t_wrex
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2019
- Messages
- 141
Recently came across a somewhat disturbing article:
The gist is that a patient in the MAPS MDMA trials had sex with one of the therapists while under the influence. There was a lawsuit that was filed and subsequently settled, with the therapists (2 were involved) saying that the sex was consensual. (Personally, I don't see how there could ever be consent when one person is drugged, let alone during a clinical trial.) MAPS released a statement last May concerning the incident:
The Quartz article contained a number of noteworthy statements from other assault victims in different trials/situations, such as:
That last quote was news to me. It seems rather cavalier to not require all therapists to be licensed.....
Keeping in mind that this is just one article with statements from a few people, it's not hard to read it and come away with a bit of a soured view on MAPS, or at least to some of the people involved. I fully support the end goal of mainstreaming psychedelic therapy in an evidence- and caution-based way, but damn it if it won't be this kind of bullshit that takes the project down.
Psychedelic therapy has a sexual abuse problem
A participant in a clinical trial on MDMA therapy accused her unlicensed therapist of sexual assault. Was it a one-off event or an institutional failing?
qz.com
The gist is that a patient in the MAPS MDMA trials had sex with one of the therapists while under the influence. There was a lawsuit that was filed and subsequently settled, with the therapists (2 were involved) saying that the sex was consensual. (Personally, I don't see how there could ever be consent when one person is drugged, let alone during a clinical trial.) MAPS released a statement last May concerning the incident:
Statement: Public Announcement of Ethical Violation by Former MAPS-Sponsored Investigators
Updated announcement March 25, 2022* This is a public announcement of additional information obtained regarding the conduct of former sub-investigators for a MAPS-sponsored clinical trial, initially publicly reported in 2019. We make this information public as part of our commitment to creating...
maps.org
The Quartz article contained a number of noteworthy statements from other assault victims in different trials/situations, such as:
Lily Kay Ross said she felt compelled to leave work in psychedelics after she spoke out about her rape by an ayahuasca shaman in the Amazon. “I was told explicitly that I might single-handedly re-instigate the war on drugs and undo all of the advancements in the field of psychedelic research since the 1960s,” she said. “There’s the idea that psychedelics are so important and so wonderful that the train has to keep going. We can’t slow down to get the rapists off the train.”
In the course of reporting this story, one psychedelics researcher Quartz reached out to said they didn’t want to be interviewed and warned that this article could have negative consequences for the field. “I’m a bit worried that mainly some very vocal people will be interviewed that will blame MAPS or the mainstreaming of psychedelic therapy for this incident, while these things are always much more nuanced and definitely not exclusive to psychedelic therapy,” the researcher wrote in reply to Quartz’s email. “I think it is important to have a constructive dialogue around these issues and challenges, but it can easily become polarizing and potentially damaging to the current developments as well. I hope that you are aware of that and are approaching this carefully.”
MAPS would have been aware of the risk of sexual abuse in psychedelic therapy long before Buisson made her complaint. Doblin, who sponsored and oversaw the Vancouver trial, previously spoke of this concern in interviews. “There’s a long-established awareness in psychotherapy that the intimacy of the relationship sometimes shades into sexual relationships between patient and therapist that are not to the advantage of the patient…. MDMA helps people open up in very intimate ways,” he told Julie Holland in an interview published in her 2001 book, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide. “I think that safeguards need to be established, so that MDMA is not used in that way.”
Yet neither the FDA nor patients were warned of that risk ahead of the trial. In all clinical trials, subjects must sign “informed consent documents,” which lay out the risks they accept by participating. Quartz has seen the informed consent document given to participants in MAPS’s Vancouver trial, which lists possible risks including dry mouth, fatigue, feeling cold, anxiety, and numbness. It does not mention that MDMA can increase sexual arousal, or warn of the history of therapists abusing patients.
Crucially, psychologists in the US and Canada are required to have a license, whereas not all psychedelic therapists in clinical trials have to meet this standard. Licensing provides a system of accountability: It takes considerable work and training to get such a license and, if a psychologist has a sexual relationship with a patient, the licensing board will strip them of their qualification and the right to practice.
MAPS, meanwhile, wants the FDA to approve rules that would allow psychedelic therapists to work in teams with only one license per pair, meaning some psychedelic therapists could practice in the US without a license. Should MDMA therapy be legalized, the FDA will approve a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for the treatment, which will be informed by MAPS’ clinical trials. Doblin said that MAPS has negotiated terms in its REMS that state anyone who conducts psychedelic therapy must first go through a MAPS training program. “It’s a requirement,” he said.
That last quote was news to me. It seems rather cavalier to not require all therapists to be licensed.....
Keeping in mind that this is just one article with statements from a few people, it's not hard to read it and come away with a bit of a soured view on MAPS, or at least to some of the people involved. I fully support the end goal of mainstreaming psychedelic therapy in an evidence- and caution-based way, but damn it if it won't be this kind of bullshit that takes the project down.