Boston doctor weighs on using psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD
Boston doctor weighs on using psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD
Updated: 5:08 PM EDT Jun 5, 2024
CARDIO MYOPATHY AND ADVISORY GROUP FOR THE FDA HAS VOTED AGAINST USING PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS TO TREAT POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. IT IS A SETBACK FOR PATIENTS IN A CLINICAL TRIAL WHO SAY THAT THE THERAPY ACTUALLY IMPROVED THEIR SYMPTOMS. HERE TO TALK ABOUT THAT, ANSWER QUESTIONS. DOCTOR MICHELLE DIBLASI, PSYCHIATRIST AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. DOCTOR, IT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE YOU. SO THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THE FDA HAS EVER CONSIDERED APPROVING PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS LIKE ECSTASY AND MOLLY FOR A MEDICAL PURPOSE. COULD THESE AND I’M QUOTING HERE, PARTY DRUGS ACTUALLY HELP PATIENTS. YOU KNOW, MDMA, WHICH IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT IN PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS LIKE ECSTASY OR MOLLY GIVES PEOPLE THIS SORT OF EUPHORIC LIKE FEEL GOOD FEELING. AND WHAT SOME OF THESE STUDIES DID WAS THEY USED THAT FEELING AND USED IT ACTUALLY AS A TREATMENT MODALITY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH POST POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, BECAUSE WHAT THEY FOUND WAS WITH THE APPROPRIATE DOSING, THESE PATIENTS COULD ACTUALLY GET BEYOND SOME OF THE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS THEY HAVE FROM THEIR TRAUMATIC EVENTS AND TRULY DELVE INTO THERAPY AND ACTUALLY PROCESS A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING TO THEM. SO IT DID SHOW SOME PROMISE. I KNOW THERE WAS A BIG FOCUS ON DOING THESE TRIALS WITH VETERANS. WHY DID THE FDA’S EXPERTS VOTE AGAINST THIS PROPOSAL? YEAH, SO THEY HAD SEVERAL CONCERNS. YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONCERNS THEY HAD WAS THAT A LOT OF THE STUDIES HAD THIS SORT OF BIAS TO IT. I MEAN, IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS FOR THE PATIENTS WHO WERE GETTING MDMA, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT THEY KNEW THEY WERE GETTING IT RIGHT BECAUSE IT’S THIS VERY CLEAR, EUPHORIC FEELING. AND SO THAT THEY FELT LIKE BIASED. A LOT OF THE STUDIES. AND THE OTHER THING WAS SAFETY CONCERNS. THEY JUST DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO SHOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN TERMS OF ABUSING THESE MEDICATIONS OR FOR YOUR HEART OR LIVER HEALTH. SO THERE JUST NEEDED TO BE MORE DATA IN THIS AREA. SO SO DOCTOR, GIVEN ALL OF THAT, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? LOOKED INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. SO THE FDA ULTIMATELY WILL MAKE THE DECISION RIGHT. BUT THEY’RE GOING TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER WHAT THE FDA ADVISERS ARE SAYING. AND THEY’RE GOING TO TAKE THEIR OPINIONS AND CONCERNS INTO ACCOUNT. BUT I DO THINK THAT THIS IS A REALLY BIG AREA OF PROMISE. AND I THINK IT’S A GREAT AREA OF GROWTH TO REALLY EXPLORE THESE PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS AND SEE IF THEY COULD ACTUALLY BE USED AS TOOLS TO HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY CRIPPLED WITH THESE SERIOUS MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS. SO I THINK MORE TO COME. ALL RIGHT. WE’LL BE WATCHING TO SEE WHAT COMES ABOUT. THANK YOU SO MUC
Boston doctor weighs on using psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD
Updated: 5:08 PM EDT Jun 5, 2024
An advisory group for the FDA has voted against using psychedelic drugs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s a setback for patients in a clinical trial who say, the therapy improved their symptoms.Dr. Michelle DiBlasi, a psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center, answers questions about it.
An advisory group for the FDA has voted against using psychedelic drugs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
It’s a setback for patients in a clinical trial who say, the therapy improved their symptoms.
Dr. Michelle DiBlasi, a psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center, answers questions about it.
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