Bipartisan members of Congress from Colorado urge Biden administration to consider MDMA use for PTSD treatment

Dozens of members of Congress, including several from Colorado, united this week to urge the federal government to carefully consider allowing a new treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder: MDMA paired with talk therapy. 

The Federal Drug Administration is set to make its decision on an application to administer the experimental drug, also known as ecstasy, by Aug. 11. Earlier this summer, an advisory panel for the agency recommended against the approval.

But now, a bipartisan, 80-member cohort of members of Congress is asking the agency to override that recommendation and still consider the treatment, known as MDMA-AT.

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“MDMA-AT is one of the most promising and available options to provide reprieve for veterans’ endless PTSD cycle,” according to a letter penned by 19 senators to the commissioner of the FDA.

The letter, led by Sen. Michael Bennet from Colorado, urged the agency to help identify new treatment for PTSD for the first time in 25 years. It was also signed by Colorado’s other senator, John Hickenlooper, and 17 other senators.

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Another letter, also with bipartisan signatories, went from members of the House of Representatives to President Joe Biden last week. In it, members of Congress urged the President and the FDA to consider the context of the advisory panel’s recommendation against the application.

“It is our understanding that while these critics may be well-intentioned, their criticism is not necessarily reflective of the science, but rather their personal ideological beliefs and biases related to the medicalization of substances like MDMA,” the letter states.

The advisory panel overwhelmingly voted that MDMA is not an effective treatment for PTSD and that it could put patients at risk of serious side effects. The application came from Lykos Therapeutics.

Reps. Joe Neguse, D-Boulder; Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs; Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewod and Jason Crow, D-Aurora all signed onto the letter with 57 others. 

The leader of that letter was Republican Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan, a 77-year-old 3-star general. 

While the FDA often follows the recommendations made by its advisory panel, it isn’t required to do so. 

In 2017, the FDA granted MDMA “breakthrough” status, which is designed to expedite the development of drugs that are intended to treat a serious condition, according to the FDA. MDMA has been a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act since 1985. 

“As a nation, we cannot allow our veterans to continue to suffer in silence and must identify treatments proven to drastically decrease the adverse effects of PTSD,” according to the letter from Senators. “If comprehensive evidence demonstrates that MDMA-AT is both effective and safe when administered in appropriate settings, it is our responsibility to ensure that this treatment option is made available to those who could benefit from it.”

Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for The Aspen Times and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, and Grand County.