Jose Luis Correa: “I rise in strong support of amendment No. 8 directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to make recommendations on…”

“I rise in strong support of amendment No. 8 directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to make recommendations on changes that are needed to its existing healthcare infrastructure so veterans can receive psychedelic-assisted therapies upon FDA approval. In December of 2024, the VA announced $1.5 million in funding for clinical research on MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol disorder, as well. This is the first time the VA has funded research on psychedelic compounds since the 1960s. My fellow Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus co-chair, General Jack Bergman, and I are encouraged by the promising results so far that we have seen in treating veterans with PTSD and other disorders. However, these therapies are different from traditional therapies in many ways. Psychedelic therapies involve hours-long sessions with multiple therapists, additional safety issues, and special training considerations for providers. We introduced this amendment because we need to be ready and be proactive to make sure that when the VA is ready to administer these therapies they actually can. While MDMA-assisted therapy did not receive FDA approval last summer, approval of certain psychedelic therapies will likely come very soon. We owe it to our veterans to make sure that they can access these therapies upon approval. Every day we lose nearly 20 veterans to suicide. One suicide is way too many.”