Jack Bergman

05/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/08/2024 15:07

Bergman Leads 60 Members in Letter to Highlight New Groundbreaking Therapy, Stop Veteran Suicide

On Friday, Representative Jack Bergman (MI-01) and 60 other Members of the House of Representatives sent a bipartisan letter to President Biden and administration officials highlighting the need for new treatments for PTSD and the promise of MDMA-Assisted Therapy (MDMA-AT) to prevent suicide among Veterans. The letter, which was co-led by Reps. Bergman, Correa (CA-46), Luttrell (TX-08) and Panetta (CA-19), also urges the FDA to follow scientific evidence when making its approval decision on MDMA-AT, which is expected within the next week.

MDMA-AT has shown incredible promise, with 71% of phase-three trial participants no longer meeting a PTSD diagnosis after three eight-hour sessions of MDMA-AT. Moreover, 86.5% of participants experienced "clinically significant" improvements in their PTSD symptoms. These results are more than double that of the current best treatment for PTSD.

Unfortunately, the FDA approval process has been hindered by outside groups that have been on a mission to discredit this promising treatment at all costs. While hearing from the public is an important part of the process to approve a new drug, biased anecdotes should not be valued over the data from scientific trials - especially when rejection would come at the cost of the lives of our servicemembers and Veterans.

The letter states, in part:"Thousands of Veterans suffering from PTSD continue to take their lives each year. Current treatments clearly are not working well enough, and our Veterans can no longer wait. If the data and evidence show that MDMA-AT is safe and effective at relieving the suffering that many Veterans face, then we owe it to them and the millions of others who are living with PTSD to make this treatment option available to them."

To read the letter in its entirety, click HERE.