Following the September 6, 2024 public meeting hosted by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA in which agency officials joined representatives from the Department of Defense (DoD) and VA, patients, advocates, and industry representatives to discuss the current treatment landscape and what can be done to accelerate development of PTSD treatment, Reason for Hope and VMHLC have provided comments on advancing treatment for PTSD. "Recent trials with novel therapies like MDMA, p

Reason for Hope and VMHLC offered a briefing to the U.S. House of Representatives For Country Caucus to highlight the challenges to pursuing research on psychedelic drugs for treatment of PTSD and the importance of the Breakthrough Therapies Act as a solution to these challenges. "If we don’t make it easier to research and enable compassionate use of Schedule I substances that demonstrate potential medical benefit, states will legalize these substances in conflict with feder

August 09, 2024 (NEW YORK) – Reason for Hope and its member organization, the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, issued a joint statement in response to the Food and Drug Administration's recent decision to deny approval of MDMA-assisted therapy in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Lieutenant General Martin R. Steele, US Marine Corps (Retired), Cofounder of Reason for Hope and Founder & President of the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, shared

Reason for Hope and the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition (VMHLC) – in coordination with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) – hosted a briefing and update on the Breakthrough Therapies Act (S.689; H.R. 1393) called "Accelerating Breakthrough Therapies for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention." The event was held Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. EDT in 385 Russell Senate Office Building. "The Breakthrough Therapies Act can help accelerate

"Hopefully, today’s hearing is the first step in the right direction of a major paradigm shift. There is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutics – including MDMA, psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine, and 5-MeO-DMT (amongst others) – which may offer rapid and robust improvement of symptoms, particularly for those who have not benefitted from existing options."

Reason for Hope and Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition briefed the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus on the importance of the Breakthrough Therapies Act and the evidence-based research supporting the efficacy of psilocybin and other psychotropic drugs in the treatment of PTSD, depression, suicidality, anxiety, and substance use.

Reason for Hope has issued a letter in support of the Breakthrough Therapies Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Rand Paul (R-KY) and by U.S. Representatives Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA). The legislation will remove regulatory hurdles that inhibit research and compassionate use access to potentially lifesaving treatments that are heavily restricted by Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Read the Letter of Sup