Lawmakers Champion MDMA as a ‘game-changer’ in PTSD Treatment

VIDEO – LET IT WORK IF IT WORKS –

Feb. 15, 2024 – Advocates and lawmakers across the political spectrum are optimistic about its chances for approval and pushing for a speedy rollout of so-called “MDMA-assisted therapy,” which they say could finally reduce the more than 6,000 veterans who die by suicide each year.

“Having served our Nation in combat I keenly understand the toll it takes on a Service Member’s mental health. We need an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to the suicide crisis impacting Service Members and Veterans,” wrote Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), a retired lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps, in a statement to The Hill.

Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), who relaunched the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus with Bergman at the start of the 118th Congress, told The Hill that MDMA-assisted therapy “promises to be a game-changer for our society.”

“Not only in terms of cost-effectiveness, but more importantly, because this stuff seems to work,” Correa said.

Lykos Therapeutics said Friday the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had accepted its application seeking approval for MDMA-assisted therapy to treat PTSD and granted the application a “priority review.” The company expects the agency, which designated MDMA-assisted therapy as a “breakthrough therapy” in 2017, will announce its decision on Aug. 11.