For a while, it looked like the psychedelic drug MDMA was poised to become an approved treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, after being rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration, MDMA faces an uphill battle to becoming legalized as medicine.
In 2017, the FDA granted MDMA “breakthrough therapy” status, a designation that recognizes a new drug’s potential benefits and expedites its review. Then came promising data from two clinical trials showing that MDMA reduced PTSD symptoms in people when it was used alongside talk therapy. The approach won over military veterans and dozens of members of Congress.
But after a disastrous meeting with