Shannon McKenney has had a severe migraine for about 1,500 days in a row.
“I have trouble sleeping and I have trouble falling asleep,” the Burnaby, BC musician said during a recent phone interview while dealing with the same persistent headache that is often accompanied by dizziness and exhaustion.
“In April 2011, my appendix also broke, and that changed my life. I survived sepsis four times.
“I used to live my life with tons of energy and now I’m like an old cell phone that doesn’t work well and doesn’t charge properly.”
McKenney’s story is one of several included in a motion for judicial review filed Monday in federal court on behalf of more than 100 health professionals across the country, including doctors, psychologists, clinical counselors, social workers and nurses. . They are challenging the federal health minister’s decision last month to reject his application for restricted psychedelic drug use to train in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.
Psilocybin can be extracted from psychedelic mushrooms and then processed into a pill form. (Camille Vernet / Radio-Canada)
This therapy involves ingesting substances that alter consciousness such as psilocybin, an active ingredient in magic mushrooms, in a clinical setting as part of more traditional psychotherapy. Other drugs could include ketamine, LSD or MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy.
The federal government had indicated earlier this year that it would reject applications, said Nicholas Pope, a lawyer representing TheraPsil, a defense group that manages the training program in which health professionals are enrolled.
Pope said at the time that the only reason mentioned was that these professionals could access an existing clinical trial. Then, in June, when the application was officially denied, Ottawa suggested they could execute their own trial.
“So in our presentations, we said this won’t work for several reasons,” Pope said.
One of the main ones is that existing testing is expensive and does not work for many of the professionals it represents due to time and location.
“The clinical trial cannot be organized in a few days,” Pope said.
“Many patients on waiting lists have suicidal ideation because of their depression and many of them have anxiety at the end of life, have terminal cancer and could die soon.”
McKenney said she tried to participate in an existing trial as a patient, but it was also too costly for her.
“Being disabled, I can’t afford $ 6,000 for three rounds of therapy,” he said.
Pope said some professionals also do not want to participate in existing trials because they are intended for psilocybin research.
“This can interfere with training because the primary goal of a clinical trial is not training, it is to gather information. And there is no uncertainty in the expert community about the safety of psilocybin in healthy adults.”
There are not enough professionals to use the treatment
In 2020, Health Canada began granting exemptions under the Drugs and Controlled Substances Act to provide psychedelic treatment to patients suffering from end-of-life psychological distress, treatment-resistant depression, and major depressive disorder.
Documents submitted to the courts show that hundreds of Canadians ask it every year, but Pope said there are not enough professionals in Canada to offer the treatment. Some asked for substances to treat their anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or other illnesses.
“In Manitoba, there are no fully trained and qualified health professionals, but there are 10 patients on TheraPsil’s waiting list,” a summary of the app said.
“Two Manitoba health professionals requested exemptions. If these two exemptions were approved, patients who would not otherwise have qualified health professionals thousands of miles away could access psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.”
McKenney said if he wanted to, he could get drugs from other channels. But he is reluctant because he has a mental illness.
“If I had to do too much or have a bad trip, sometimes there’s no going back. If I do, I want to regulate it and I want it to be controlled just for safety.”
Pope said in the judicial review request that he also wants the federal government to recognize patients ’rights to life, liberty and security that are being violated.
A Health Canada spokesman said in an email that he is deeply concerned about the burden of mental illness for Canadians.
“Health Canada is aware that psilocybin is being studied by researchers in Canada and internationally for its potential to treat a variety of conditions, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and various substance use disorders.” , said Marie-Pier Burelle.
“Each request for exemption … is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant considerations, including evidence of potential benefits and risks or harms to Canadians.”
McKenney said that if more professionals were trained and had easier access to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, their lives would change.
“I’ve been relatively disabled for 10 years. If I can recover even a tenth of my previous life, it would be something.”