Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins says the department remains committed to researching psychedelics as a potential treatment for conditions like PTSD and traumatic brain injury, noting the agency is currently involved in 11 separate studies on the issue.
The comments came during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing yesterday, where Senator John Boozman (R-AR) brought up Collins’ earlier remarks about psychedelics made during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump. Boozman said the committee is paying close attention to the issue and is interested in finding new solutions for veterans with severe mental health needs.
In response, Collins emphasized that helping veterans who haven’t benefited from standard treatments remains a top priority, saying “I’m committed to doing whatever we can to provide veterans and those who have maybe not responded to traditional care and others, especially in the area of PTS and also TBI, the other issues that we’re dealing with that lead to a lot of what we’ve seen in suicide and death by suicide. So we’re looking at it right now.”
Collins, a former Republican congressman, also pointed out that the VA is involved in 11 different studies examining psychedelics. That includes a clinical trial involving MDMA, which he said has already shown promising results after just one dose paired with two weeks of follow-up therapy.
“I’m willing to say this – I want to work with, and I said this with others, that we make sure that we’re not closing off any outlet for a veteran who could be helped by these programs,. And I think we’ll definitely be working with Congress on that if there seems to be something else we need.”
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