The Federal Court of Appeals has ruled that Health Canada’s refusal to allow exemptions for health workers to use psilocybin as part of their experimental training was not reasonable.
Wednesday’s decision was the result of an appeal of a request for judicial review of 2022 in a case that involved 96 health professionals who sought an exemption to legally use dry hallucinogenic fungi as part of what is known as experimental training.
The initial exemption application was submitted under the name of Jeff Toth, a practitioner of Nueva Scotia.
The refusal of exemptions of Health Canada of the requests of health workers has been returned to the Minister of Health, Marjorie Michel, for redetermination.
Fungi, commonly called magical fungi, contain psychoactive substances that are only legal for use in Canada if an exemption is granted under the controlled drug and substances law (CDSA). These exemptions are reserved for psychotherapy assisted by psilocybin, which implies the medically supervised consumption of the substance for the treatment of serious medical conditions, including anguish at the end of life or treatment resistant depression.
On Wednesday night, the Federal Court ruled that the reasons for Health Canada to refuse to grant exemptions at the 96 training of health workers to administer psilocybin were too arbitrary.
The rejection of exemptions harms patients: defender
John Gilchrist, Director of Communications at Therapaph, a non -profit Canadian organization that advocates legal access to psychedelic therapy, was “euphoric” with this week’s decision, which called a “long time that arrived.”
Gilchrist hopes this leads to the current Minister of Health to open access to therapies training more professionals who can help treat patients with weakening migraines or depression. He says that Health Canada’s refusal to grant exemptions is “damaging health professionals and, very important, patients who are the most vulnerable in Canada.”
The decision of the Federal Court of Appeals indicated that Health Canada changed its position on psilocybin exemptions between 2020 and 2022 without a clear explanation. In 2020, the then Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu, granted exemptions to 19 health professionals.
This was invested in 2022 under Carolyn Bennett, the then Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and the Associate Health Minister.
“Health Canada has no knowledge of the clinical evidence reviewed by peers to demonstrate that health professionals must take a psychedelic medication to appreciate what the patient experiences,” says the ministry in the decision of the Federal Court this week.
But the judge of the Federal Court of Appeals, Douglas Rennie, wrote on his decision on Wednesday that “almost identical exemption requests” were granted in one case and denied arbitrarily in the other.
“The minister cannot make such a significant and abrupt change without explanation,” he wrote.
Health Canada has approved a study with 20 Londoners suffering from PTSD to experience therapy under the influence of psilocybin, active ingredient in psychedelic fungi. Psychotherapist Jared Dalton will supervise therapy. Explain how it will work.
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Ottawa’s lawyer, Nicholas Pope, says that this is the latest in legal victories that will help open access to psychedelic treatments.
Pope, the recurring lawyer, said that health workers were approved in 2020, then they were denied based on the lack of scientific evidence of efficacy.
“Health Canada did not demand that level of evidence in 2020 and now demands it,” he said.
In May 2024, a Calgary man named Jody Lance who suffers from cluster weakening pains was the first to win a battle of the Federal Court that forced Health Canada to reconsider his commitment to legal access to psilocybin to treat his extreme pain.
His case was withdrawn after obtaining the approval of an exemption this year.
Applications to access controlled substances in special medical circumstances are submitted through the special access program (SAP) of Health Canada.
The initial application of Lance under the SAP to help treat its pain was denied due to the lack of research on the efficacy of psilocybin to treat headaches by groups.
Canadians have had limited legal access to psilocybin under SAP since 2022. Health Canada approved 56 SAP applications in 2022, 106 in 2023 and 85 as of October 2024.
CBC News requested more current data and a response to the recent Health Canada failure, but did not listen to the time for publication.
