Emerge Law Group is proud to represent a Seattle palliative care physician and co-director of an integrative oncology clinic, and a number of his patients with advanced cancer in a case seeking to open access to psilocybin therapy for patients with serious illness under state and federal Right to Try laws. Well known patient rights advocate Kathryn Tucker, Emerge Special Counsel, along with a team of outstanding co-counsel from Perkins Coie, Yetter Coleman and Vicente Sederberg, represent the Petitioners in AIMS et al v DEA.
Today we filed our brief, Petitioners Opening Brief, in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The central contention is that the DEA, a federal law enforcement agency with authority to prevent diversion of controlled substances, overstepped the limits of its authority in failing to recognize that the RTT requires it to allow access to eligible investigational drugs – psilocybin is one such drug – for therapeutic use by patients with serious illness. This is an affront to the autonomy of the states to serve their recognized function as primary regulators of the practice of medicine. It is in contravention of the RTT, which as an amendment to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, is the statute with primacy here. And it denies seriously ill patients access to promising investigational drugs, causing irreparable harm.
Next week we expect others to join this effort by filing amicus briefs in support of the Petitioners. In June, the DOJ will file its brief. Petitioners will file a reply and the case will be set for oral argument, likely in September.