Two Cancer Patients Battle to Make Psilocybin Accessible for Palliative Care

Psilocybin access for end-of-life care is at the center of a U.S. legal fight brought by cancer patients Erinn Baldeschwiler and Michal Bloom. Baldeschwiler, diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in March 2020, was encouraged by her palliative care doctor to pursue psilocybin for emotional anguish and existential distress. Despite evidence that psilocybin can help reduce depression and anxiety in people with life-threatening cancer, the therapy remains investigational and psilocybin is still a Schedule I substance, which blocks routine access. The patients try to use the federal Right to Try framework, but they face refusals and bureaucratic delays from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). A lawsuit seeking to compel access was dismissed on a technicality, and the DEA has not issued a final decision. The story also situates the dispute within broader renewed psychedelic research for cancer-related distress, including earlier findings with psilocybin and LSD and the current lack of phase III trials needed for FDA approval.