Former Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell blasts FDA after agency deals blow to psychedelic medicine that saved his own life amid PTSD battle: ‘It’s a bad decision’
A former Navy SEAL congressman says the FDA’s decision to bash psychedelics to threaten PTSD is a “bad decision” because the therapies saved his own life.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, has credited the psychedelic drugs he was able to take in Mexico with saving his life and marriage after experiencing the true horrors of war during multiple brutal combat deployments.
“This was a poor decision and a step in the wrong direction,” Luttrell told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement about the FDA’s determination.
“I have traveled around the country studying and researching these emerging therapies, and I have personally experienced the groundbreaking effects they can have,” the former Navy SEAL continued.
“I will never stop advocating for innovative solutions for our veterans and servicemembers,” Luttrell said.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, during a combat deployment somewhere in the Middle East. After a spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury (TBI), he turned to psychedelic drugs to recover. He has credited some of those treatments with saving his life
After serving 14 years as a SEAL, he medically retired in 2014 to seek treatment for mental health issues resulting from his service.
He states that for veterans suffering from war-induced mental health issues, PTSD and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), there are sometimes no options other than psychedelics.
After suffering brain trauma and a spinal cord injury in a helicopter crash in 2009, he has worked to make the treatments that helped him available to other veterans.
Luttrell served as a Navy SEAL for fourteen years before medically retiring
MDMA is commonly known as the party drug ‘Molly’. It has recently been studied by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for potential benefits in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
After his military term, Luttrell had to go to Mexico to receive psychotherapies
“The effects of emerging therapies for our veterans have been groundbreaking, and I am proud to be a leader in advancing this innovative tool in the proverbial toolbox, especially as we move away from opioids,” Luttrell previously told DailyMail.com.
“As the FDA finally takes action to approve these therapies, it is critical that we ensure the VA has an implementation plan and can treat veterans effectively and efficiently,” he continued.
The FDA’s decision won’t stop the drug from becoming an approved therapy — that decision is expected in August — but it will certainly influence the agency’s determination.
The agency found there were inconsistencies in MDMA’s data for PTSD studies, leading to further questions about its efficacy.
They also found that MDMA poses drug risks such as abuse, injury and possible heart problems.
Notably, the FDA panel said the studies were not diverse enough.
Many of the studies they reviewed involved white men, and only five black men were administered MDMA in the tests Associated Press reports.
“The fact that this study has so many white participants is problematic because I don’t want something to be rolled out that only helps this one group,” said the panel’s patient representative, Elizabeth Joniak-Grant.
Dr. Rajesh Narendran, chairman of the FDA advisory panel, said he was “not at all convinced that this drug is effective, based on the data I’ve seen.”
The eleven-person FDA advisory panel voted 10-1 against recommending MDMA for PTSD
Despite the panel’s skepticism, lawmakers are moving ahead with psychotherapies.
Earlier this week, Reps. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., and Lou Correa, D-Calif., the co-chairs of the Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus, celebrated the inclusion of two psychotherapy-related amendments included in the House Appropriations Bills Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
These amendments would fund VA’s research into therapies to treat PTSD, addiction and other mental health issues.