Richard L. Bowen, M.D.
CHARLESTON KETAMINE CENTER, CHARLESTON SC
Richard L. Bowen, M.D.
Dr. Bowen received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of South Carolina in 1980. He graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston in 1985. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at Spartanburg Regional Medical center in 1988 and continues to maintain his Board Certification. After completing his residency he worked as an Emergency Department physician for several years and then went into private hospital based Family Medicine.
Observations made while caring for his patients fueled his interest in medical research. He has published over 25 papers in peer reviewed journals. For example, the Food and Drug Administration credited Dr. Bowen’s research as the primary basis for their decision to have the diet drug fen-phen taken off the market in 1997. After that his research interests focused on Alzheimer’s disease and aging. Findings in a particular patient led Dr. Bowen to co-author a new theory on aging, which was published in the scientific journal Gerontology. He was then the lead investigator in a phase II study testing a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease based on this theory. The promising results of this study were published in the January 2015 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Prior to their publication, Dr. Bowen presented these results at the 2014 Annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. While there he learned of the remarkable advances being made using ketamine in the treatment of refractory depression. Dr. Bowen treats depression in many of his patients and is well aware of the limitations of currently available medications. He is excited to offer this new therapy to those whose depression does not respond adequately to traditional treatments. At this time Dr. Bowen has performed over 2,500 ketamine infusions. He emphatically states, "providing ketamine treatment for depression is by far the most rewarding thing I have done during my thirty year career."