US 9th Circuit Hears Historic Case To Allow Psilocybin Therapy

This article was originally published on Microdose and appears here with permission.

In a recent article by the Emerge Law Group, they report that the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears a historic case seeking to open access to psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”. It is the nation’s first challenge to legally allow psilocybin therapy in terminally ill patients under the “right-to-try” law. The ongoing research strongly supporting the use of psilocybin in the treatment of major depression and anxiety associated with end-of-life care. Landmark clinical trials at the world’s leading research institutions, such as Johns Hopkins Institute, NYU, and Imperial College London, have all produced stunning evidence that psilocybin is incredibly safe and effective in the treatment of these difficult to manage conditions.

Two Cancer Patients & Their Doctor Challenge the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

The challenge against the DEA is being mounted by two patients with advanced cancer in end-of-life care and their palliative care physician. They are challenging the agency based on the overwhelming amount of information now available demonstrating the efficacy of psilocybin in not just treating, but potentially curing the crippling depression and anxiety that often comes with a terminal diagnosis.

Who Are They? Humanizing the Patients Pioneering Access to Psychedelics

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Erinn Baldeschwiler is a 49-year old mother of two teenagers that has stage IV metastatic triple-negative breast cancer that was found throughout her entire body. She was told that she had two years of life left to live. She suffers from intense emotional suffering, including anxiety and depression.

Michael Bloom, now retired due to her medical condition, is a formerly practiced attorney with the US Trustee Program, within the US Department of Justice. She has advanced, recurrent, BRCA+, ovarian cancer with metastasis to her lymph nodes and was initially diagnosed in February of 2017.

A Petition for Review Was Filed in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

The two patients along with their doctor filed a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals on behalf of the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute, Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, M.D., Ph.D., and all in the Seattle Region. With psilocybin still considered a Schedule I drug in the United States by the DEA, such a case is a historic measure in the movement to make psychedelics medically accessible. The challenge, primarily brought on by Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, and his clinic and research institute, AIMS, is seeking to provide psilocybin therapy to terminally ill patients. The court will hear arguments in the case challenging the DEA’s determination in February that it lacked grounds to waive any provision of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In this case, the argument is to allow medical use of psilocybin for patients in end-of-life care through Washington’s “right-to-try act”, which aims to give certain patients access to experimental therapies.