This week, Lykos, the world’s leading MDMA company, launched a concerted public relations campaign, two weeks after the FDA Advisory Committee near-unanimously voted not to support its FDA application for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.
No less than three PR firms have been hired, and the entire ‘crisis campaign’ is being orchestrated by a fourth agency. That’s a lot of PR muscle!
The aim, according to one source, is to provide enough ‘political cover’ for the FDA to let them disregard the advice of its advisory committee and approve Lykos application for MDMA-assisted therapy in August. ‘The FDA really want to get this done’, the source said.
The strategy appears to be two-fold. First, rally the veterans, emphasize how many veterans commit suicide every day, and thereby imply that anyone who opposes the legalization of MDMA has blood on their hands. Second, attack the credibility and authority of anyone who objects to the application – including the Institute of Clinical and Economic Review, media-advocacy organisation Psymposia, and the Advisory Committee itself.
The troops being sent into this PR battle are any researchers, journalists or veteran groups which have received funding from the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC), the group of American millionaires and billionaires who fund perhaps 15% of psychedelic research and maybe 50% of psychedelic charities (these are wild guestimates), and who passionately want to see psychedelics legalized for the good of humanity.
I know some friends or acquaintances at Lykos / MAPS / PSFC read this newsletter. Here’s my constructive suggestion: MAPS / Lykos announced the launch of an independent ethics review board in 2022. The press release said:
· Independent members will inform continual iteration and improvement of ethical governance of MDMA-assisted therapy research and therapist training program
· Independent Ethical Review Board engages outside experts to provide additional layer of review, guiding MAPS and MAPS PBC’s commitment to exceptional ethical practice in MDMA-assisted therapy and fostering a culture of safety for all who receive psychedelic-assisted therapies
· Outside advisors with established expertise in therapy ethics, alongside an advocate for survivors of abuse in a therapeutic context, will review and recommend improvements on MAPS and MAPS PBC’s ongoing development of ethical policies and practices
Amy Emerson, CEO of Lykos, declared at the time: ‘Our demonstrated commitment to transparency, integrity, and ethical practices will be strengthened through the formal input provided by the subject matter experts elected to the Independent Ethical Review Board.’
We asked MAPS what happened to this independent ethics review board, and they told us to ask Lykos. We asked Lykos, and they said ‘as we are laser-focused on the regulatory approval process for MDMA-assisted therapy, unfortunately, we won't be able to fulfil this request.’
Unless I hear evidence to the contrary, I am going to assume this ethics board was never actually set up. My constructive suggestion would be – if Lykos is really serious about making the new psychedelic industry as safe for vulnerable patients as possible, why not take a small portion of all that PR money and spend it on setting this ethics board up?
In addition, Heroic Hearts has an excellent reputation as a veteran-supporting charity. I don’t think its recent letter defending Lykos should be singling out any individuals in Psymposia for personal attacks - that’s potentially dangerous, and I trust HH to do the right thing and remove their name. EDIT: Heroic Hearts did do the right thing and removed the personal name of someone affiliated with Psymposia from their letter, thank you for good faith steps in a rather charged moment for the field.
More on the PR campaign after the paywall.
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