H.R. 7091 — Expanding Veterans’ Access to Emerging Treatments Act

This section expresses the sense of Congress that chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and other conditions represent an urgent unmet medical need among veterans amid a lack of innovative treatments and emerging therapies and that the Department of Veterans Affairs should advance research and facilitate timely access to such treatments, including psychedelic- and entactogenic-assisted therapies.

This section establishes an investigational research program at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to treat veterans diagnosed with covered conditions—such as anxiety, chronic pain, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorders (including alcohol and cocaine use disorders), and traumatic brain injury (TBI)—using innovative treatments (e.g., 3,4-Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine [MDMA], psilocybin, ketamine, ibogaine) and emerging therapies (e.g., investigational pharmaceuticals meeting the government's Definition of Recovery, deep brain neurostimulation, hyperbaric oxygen therapy). The VA Secretary must develop the program within 90 days of enactment, designate a lead administrator within 60 days, conduct clinical trials (selected for efficacy, safety, and ease of administration) and compassionate or extended access protocols, and establish a process for veteran participation as clinically appropriate. The VA may also support additional clinical research trials using otherwise available funds. Within one year of enactment, the Secretary must report to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs on designated clinics, expected trial participants, preliminary outcomes, and a review of treatments (including safety, efficacy, cost, regulatory, and logistical considerations). The program requires VA review within two years of enactment, after which the Secretary may extend or terminate it at discretion, consistent with applicable federal law governing investigational medical products and controlled substances.