Do Dying People Have a ‘Right to Try’ Magic Mushrooms? 9th Circuit Weighs Case
The 9th Circuit will soon hear arguments as to whether terminally ill patients have a right to utilize psilocybin as a part of their palliative care. The case is one of two brought by Dr. Sunil Aggarwal currently pending in the 9th Circuit (the other case asks the DEA to reschedule psilocybin, which would make it available for therapeutic prescription outside of a research context).
In the pending litigation, Dr. Aggarwal appeals a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) decision “barring him from prescribing psilocybin to his late-stage cancer patients” to help mitigate the fear and dread that comes with such a diagnosis. Dr. Aggarwal, a palliative care physician and founder of the Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute in Seattle, argues that he has a legal right to prescribe psilocybin to his patients based on state and federal “right to try” laws. Under these laws, terminal patients may have access to experimental drug therapies before the therapies are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More than 40 states have such laws in place, and a federal version of the law passed in 2018.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have expressed their support of Dr. Aggarwal, with many concerned that the DEA’s enforcement of the federal Controlled Substances Act over state right-to-try laws is indicative of an ongoing “threat to state sovereignty.” This case comes at a crucial moment for psychedelics research as an increasing number of states push for state approval of psychedelic-assisted therapies. In Dr. Aggarwal’s 9th Circuit brief, Aggarwal urges the Court to allow for palliative-care psilocybin prescriptions, noting that psilocybin “has shown enormous promise in early clinical trials in relieving debilitating anxiety and depression suffered by terminally ill patients.”
“When you are being told that you have an incurable disease, that all we can do is extend your lifespan for a certain amount of time but there is no cure, the psycho-spiritual toll that places on somebody’s mind is very high,” says Aggarwal. “[Right now, all we can do is offer patients] harm reduction strategies, but I don’t think that’s good enough.”
“Inspiring to see these cases proceeding, in no small part due to the effort of our wonderful colleague Kathryn Tucker. This decision has the potential for tremendous progress in making psychedelic methodologies more accessible around the country,” says Emerge attorney Sean Clancy. “The impact here could be huge.”
