Republican Congressman Jack Bergman Rallies Support For Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies

Hours before the FDA rejected the Lykos Therapeutics’ New Drug Application for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) took a call from Lucid News in the cab of his pickup truck. Parked in his home district in Northern Michigan, the Republican Congressman reflected on the public discussions about MDMA-AT, actions by lawmakers to support the proposed treatment, and the path ahead for continuing research into psychedelic-assisted therapies.  

A plain-spoken former U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general serving since 2017 as the U.S. representative from Michigan’s 1st congressional district, Rep. Bergman led a bipartisan coalition of 61 House members who drafted a letter to President Joe Biden in support of MDMA-AT. Another letter to FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf was signed by 19 members of the Senate. Both letters focused on the designation of MDMA-AT as a “Breaththrough Therapy” by the FDA in 2017, the results of the Lykos clinical trials, and the need for better treatments for PTSD. 

During our conversation with Rep. Bergman, he emphasized the high rates of suicide among veterans and the present lack of effective therapies. He noted that some veterans now leave the U.S. to receive MDMA-AT in countries where it is legal. If the FDA rejected the Lykos NDA for MDMA-AT, Rep. Bergman said that members of Congress who support the therapy will not stop advocating for new mental health treatments that are supported by scientific research. 

The veterans community and members of Congress who advocate for them have been among the most vocal supporters of MDMA-AT for PTSD. The issue has united members of both parties during a contentious election year and amplified the need for effective mental health treatments. 

A statement issued by veterans organizations Healing Breakthrough and Heroic Hearts, which  have been calling on the FDA to approve MDMA-AT, asserted that “MDMA-AT is the most effective treatment ever developed for PTSD, a condition at the core of the Veteran suicide crisis that claims over 17 lives each day.” The groups added that “If this critical treatment remains inaccessible, we face losing an additional 6,000 Veterans to suicide this year alone—and every year thereafter.”

Post FDA

After the FDA decision, Congressman Bergman eched concerns about the urgent need to reduce veteran suicides. “The FDA had the opportunity to make a decision that would both follow the scientific evidence and actively help prevent Veteran suicide. They failed,” said Rep. Bergman. 

“This was a tragic and avoidable setback, and one that will have very real consequences on our Veterans and other Americans struggling with PTSD,” said Rep. Bergman. “However, despite this shortsighted verdict, the momentum for psychedelic-assisted therapy continues to grow. Congress recognizes the potential of treatments like MDMA-Assisted Therapy and we will not be deterred in our singular focus to give hope to the millions of Americans struggling with invisible wounds.”

Rep. Bergman has facilitated several meetings between members of Congress and the V.A. to discuss MDMA-AT and psychedelic-assisted therapies. He is currently in discussions with stakeholders to plan more discussions. He told Scientific American that he plans to call a meeting between FDA leadership and Congress. “My question to the FDA is ‘Tell me what your definitive next steps are to get the science advanced enough to enable veterans to benefit from breakthrough therapies,’” said Bergman, “because there will be veterans who take their lives today.”

Below is our conversation with Rep. Bergman. 

Lucid News: Good morning Congressman Bergman and thank you for talking with Lucid News. What personal experiences have you had with veterans who have benefited from psychedelic-assisted therapies and researchers investigating these treatments? How have these interactions shaped your advocacy for these therapies? 

Rep. Jack Bergman: Well, first of all, my experience, firsthand experience, is non-existent. I have not gone through any type of therapy, regardless of what it is. However, the good lord gave us two ears and one mouth. So I use my ears to listen to the experiences of others who have had to leave the country because they were in such dire straits, and they had successful treatments outside of our borders. Representative Lou Correa (D-CA) and I created the Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) caucus, about a year and a half ago. We’ve held a couple of different round tables and seminars where we’ve invited everything from researchers who are doing the work to veterans who went through different therapies, whether it be MDMA, whether it be psilocybin, no matter what it is. 

It’s been the personal engagement on the part of myself and guys like Lou Correa (D-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), who have come to understand that there is the potential for life-changing therapies out there. And we, as the U.S. Congress, have to create the environment that encourages the research and then therefore the outcomes that can happen right here in our own borders. That people wouldn’t have to go somewhere else in the world to get the treatment that they need. 

Lucid News: Given the bipartisan support for this initiative, what do you see as the next steps in advocating for MDMA-assisted therapy if the FDA responds favorably to the new drug application from Lykos Therapeutics? How do you plan to work with your colleagues across the aisle to ensure that this treatment becomes available if the FDA approves it? 

Rep. Bergman: Well, number one, we’re very hopeful that the FDA will see the wisdom in advancing MDMA. They advanced ketamine a while ago. There’s other therapies waiting in the queue, different drugs. Our role as Congress is to continue to watch what’s going on in the scientific community and encourage, through limited, targeted appropriations that we got in some House bills this year and last year, to provide some research funding. 

Because I sit on the Veterans Affairs Committee, I’ve already visited the Bronx VA. I’ve been out to California a couple of years ago to look at what the VA is doing in some of the research and some of the therapies. So the train has already left the station here. The train’s moving. Let’s get the FDA to put a little, you know, an extra car load of whatever in that train to keep things moving forward. That’s what good science is. 

So that’s how I see the role of Congress. We put money into it. We’ve made awareness of it through all of the communications we’ve had recently. And then support good scientists and good research[ers] that are not afraid to take a step that may not have been normal yesterday. But there is evidence that it could be normal tomorrow. 

Those of us in the military, we’re talking about stemming the epidemic of veteran suicide. Those of us in the military have gone into harm’s way. We have experienced stresses that most people don’t experience in life. Not that we’re alone. We’re willing to risk future endeavors here for the betterment of all who would benefit from new therapies. 

Lucid News: If the FDA agrees with their advisory committee and decides against recommending approval of MDMA-assisted therapy, what specific steps do you and your colleagues in Congress plan to take to overcome this setback and continue advancing research and access to this therapy?

Rep. Bergman: Number one, we’re not gonna quit just if the FDA says no. We’re not gonna quit because we know that it’s the right thing to move forward with new breakthrough therapies. 

When you think about the United States as the lead researcher in new components, new therapies, all new technology, new, anything, we still do lead the world in 80 to 90% of the cases. Regardless of whether we’re talking about therapies for mental health, or whether we’re talking about technologies for advancing manufacturing, we are a leader in the world. 

So those of us who believe in this are going to find a different way to ensure that we can bring the Washington bureaucracy, in this case it would be the FDA, forward in a safe manner. Sometimes the hesitancy of bureaucracies gets in the way of their ability to see visionary results. We’ll partner with the FDA. We’re just not gonna quit. 

Lucid News: During your press conference on MDMA-assisted therapy, you mentioned bipartisan support in Congress for advancing psychedelic assisted therapies at the VA and funding research through the National Defense Authorization Act. Can you provide more details on those efforts and their current status? 

Rep. Bergman: The FY 24 National Defense Authorization Act got language included requiring DOD [Department of Defense] to conduct clinical trials into psychedelic treatments for active duty service members. We allocated $10 million for that in the FY25 MilCon. Representative Correa and I got two amendments passed unanimously supporting VA funded research and encouraging them to prioritize training therapists. It’s not just the drug compound, it’s the therapists that are trained to understand how this is gonna affect that interaction with the patient. So we’ve been encouraging the VA to quickly make a formulary decision following any FDA approval on the MDMA-assisted therapy. 

So, it’s kind of a multi-pronged approach here. First of all, you have to have the compound, the chemicals, whatever you want to call it. And then you have to have the people who know how to apply the product so that the patient is not in danger. The results of the experience doing what we are hopeful it’s intended to do, which is to free that patient of the burden that somehow has been placed on them, so that they don’t consider taking their life. 

Given the world we live in today, we probably have known a family member or a friend who has made that awful decision. I’ve experienced it personally, as so many others have. We can beat that demon and it is a demon. We can beat it, but we have to be open to trying new ways to do it. 

Lucid News: How do you address the safety concerns raised by critics of MDMA-assisted therapy which relate to the boundary violations in the clinical environment, abuse potential, and a potential bias in the data gathering during the clinical trials? These were concerns that were raised during the public hearing portion of the FDA advisory committee discussions. Do you have any comment on that? 

Rep. Bergman: They point out the one or two bad behaviors among hundreds or thousands, and that’s not how you make decisions. I’m not gonna give you solutions, but I’m a Marine and I was also a commercial pilot when they put cameras in the cockpits to see what the pilots were doing a long time ago. Ok. But the point is that maybe that’s not applicable here.

You create the environment where number one, as part of the therapist training process, you have to screen the people who are applying to be therapists. And then number two, put guardrails and guidelines so that that kind of bad behavior, inappropriate behavior, cannot occur. 

You make good policy for the 80% positive, not the 5% negative, that’s not good policy. You deal with it and you create the environment where it’s positivity and actions. People who are performing the therapy, they’re monitored, if you will, on occasion, like you would with anybody working for you. You see how they’re doing, make sure as you get to know them better, they’re that right person and all of that. 

I’m a parent. Ok. We got five kids and 10 grandkids and, you know, we loved them all and we disciplined them all. And they knew that there were certain activities that they engaged when they had crossed the line. And, you know, as my mother would have said, there would be hell to pay. So I’ll leave it at that. 

Lucid News: You’ve spoken about the importance of shifting the PTSD narrative towards post traumatic growth. How do you envision psychedelic-assisted therapies contributing to this new narrative? And what impact do you hope these therapies will have on veterans potentially and other Americans suffering from PTSD? 

Rep. Bergman: The end game in anything you’re trying to do is to be successful. So in a mental health standpoint, if you’re in a dark place, you don’t just want to stop being in a dark place, you want to get to a positive place, AKA growth. 

So I believe as we advance the therapies and we see results, now it’s up to us to take that person who has experienced a positive outcome and focus them on, “OK, now we’ve dealt with that demon. Let’s focus on a positive path so that demon can’t get back into your psyche, into your life.” So that’s where the growth comes in. 

You know, there’s the old saying that the definition of insanity is you do things the same way every day and expect different results, right? And what we’re talking about here in the growth. Once we’ve got the ball rolling in a positive way, let’s build on it so that we can spread the positive nature, and bring people in from that dark place. Bring people to be aware that we have so much inside us that can be in turmoil, but is untapped. And it’s up to good therapy, moving forward to help people, to tap their untapped potential inside them. 

Lucid News: What haven’t we asked you about this FDA decision that you think is important for people to understand? 

Rep. Bergman: I think you’ve pretty much covered everything, but again, I’ll just repeat one thing. Our group isn’t quitting. You look at the personalities involved, who’s leading this up. We’ve taken on some big challenges in life. We’ve taken them on because we believe in them.

This is not Democrat or Republican. This is, absolutely totally, bipartisan in nature. We believe our role as Congress is to move good processes, good change, good growth forward on behalf of all American people. Not just a few, or not just somebody who wants to say no, because they’re in their comfort zone and they don’t want change. 

Well, guess what. Change occurs every day and we’re gonna ride the waves of change. You know, some of us did a little surfing, and if you can ride a wave, you know, it changes. Sometimes you go off the board, but you gotta get back on. 

Lucid News: Do you think these bipartisan statements and discussions about MDMA-assisted therapy can help create more of a climate of bipartisan collaboration throughout Congress? Do you think it might ultimately have that effect? 

Rep. Bergman: It all, it all starts, you know, with a little flame, a little spark. What’s the old saying? It’s easier to fan a flame than it is to light a fire. Right now we’re lighting the fire in a positive way amongst our colleagues. Once we get that fire rolling in a positive way towards bipartisan things that we can work on, then we can fan the flame to keep it moving forward. 

Because American people want to see the people they elect to go to Washington D.C. to work together. The one thing I say to people everyday, in public especially, because they’ll give some talking point they read or saw. I say, “Look, the only thing I feel bad for the American people for is you do not see Democrats and Republicans in Washington D.C. working together all day every day, from early in the morning until late at night. And admittedly in the morning, we might have a cup of coffee and at night we might have an adult beverage. That’s ok. But we go to bed, get up and do it again. But for the media, that’s not news. That’s not exciting. 

In fact, you want to see something exciting? I think it’s on September the 19th or thereabouts, don’t hold me to the date, but it’s the Congressional Football Game. It’s the old classic, longest yard guards versus the inmates. The guards [are] the Capitol police. The inmates are the members of Congress and a few other folks. We’ll play on Audi Field in D.C. It’s a fundraiser for charity. Come on out and see the Democrats and Republicans play in football, touch football, together against the Capitol police. Have a fun night and we’ll raise money for charity. But that’s an example of people already working together and it’s some of those guys that I referenced their names. We’re the ones on the field. We’re not fast. We’re a little older, but we still have fun. 

Lucid News: Thank you  Congressman Bergman for speaking with us today from your pickup truck mobile office. We appreciate your time and we may be back in touch with you for comment once the FDA decision comes through. 

Rep. Bergman: Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Because people need to know these types of things so that good decisions can be made going forward, assuming appropriate risk with guidelines and guardrails, to make sure the outcome is positive for everybody. Don’t be afraid of change, embrace it, but do it wisely.