Melbourne psychiatrist Eli Kotler has launched a court battle against the state of Victoria for permission to treat a severely ill patient with MDMA (better known as "ecstasy"). According to Dr. Kotler, his patient (who cannot be named) suffers from numerous mental health issues for which conventional psychiatric medication have been ineffective. Since MDMA is listed as a prohibited substance in Australia, it can only be administered for medical or scientific research. Earlier this year, the Victorian health department rejected Dr. Kotler's application to use the drug for treating his patient. A letter sent at the time by Stefan Tulloch, the acting chief officer of medicines and poisons regulation at the Department of Health, informed the psychiatrist that ""There is insufficient data to establish the safety and efficacy … with regards to the safe use of a Schedule 9 poison in clinical practice."
As a result, Dr. Kotler has gone forward with a court challenge that sets a legal precedent in Australia. While Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration, which regulates medicines, is considering making MDMA a controlled drug, it is still unclear how long this will take and whether it will resolve Dr. Kotler's challenge. In the meantime, both sides are gearing up for what is expected to be a protracted legal battle with expert witnesses being called in from California and the United Kingdom where MDMA has already been used successfully in medical treatment.
Despite the controversy surrounding MDMA-assisted therapy in many places, research has already suggested that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may be beneficial in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression though most researchers call for more studies given the potential dangers associated with its use.
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