Art Installation Near White House Urges FDA To Approve MDMA-Assisted Therapy For Veterans As Decision Time Looms

Close to the White House in Lafayette Park, 17 pairs of Army boots form a solemn row. These boots represent a tragic statistic from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: every day an average of at least 17 military veterans die by suicide.

Advocacy Groups Urge FDA To Approve Psychedelic Therapy

This powerful installation is part of a campaign by Healing Breakthrough and Heroic Hearts Project to advocate for the approval of psychedelic-assisted therapy for treating PTSD in veterans. The groups are urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to greenlight this therapy when it makes its decision on August 11.

Jesse Gould, an Army Ranger veteran and head of the Heroic Hearts Project, highlighted the stigma surrounding psychedelics. "Unfortunately, in this country, there's still a lot of stigma around psychedelics and similar drugs," he told Washington's Top News.

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MDMA-Assisted Therapy Shows Promising Results for PTSD

The therapy in question is known as MDMA-Assisted Therapy (MDMA-AT), involving the active ingredient in ecstasy. MDMA is currently classified as a Schedule I narcotic, which poses a significant barrier to research and treatment. However, Lykos Therapeutics, the company behind the treatment, reported that 71% of participants in their study had their PTSD diagnosis eliminated after undergoing MDMA-AT.

Despite these promising results, skepticism remains. In a June meeting, FDA advisers voted 10-1 against the overall benefits of MDMA-AT, citing concerns about potential misuse. Gould believes the committee "fumbled the ball" and is hopeful the FDA will reach a different conclusion next month.

Personal Testimonies Highlight Potential

Gould, who has personally used psychedelics to manage his PTSD, explained the importance of the controlled therapeutic environment. "The reason it works in this context, with the safe setting, is because the chemical itself, the MDMA, allows people to be more vulnerable, more tapped into the emotions, and allows them to have more trust in the therapist," he said.

Urgent Need For Innovative PTSD Treatments

Gould emphasized the critical need for new PTSD treatments, drawing from his own experience. "I don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for the treatments I went through," he shared, underscoring the potential life-saving impact of psychedelic-assisted therapies.

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