A 51-year-old Calgary man who suffers debilitating cluster headaches has won a Federal Court battle forcing Health Canada to reconsider his bid for legal access to psilocybin to treat his extreme pain.

Ottawa Federal Court Judge Simon Fothergill, on May 24, granted an application for judicial review of Health Canada's denial of Jody Lance's bid for legal access to medical grade psilocybin — the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms — to manage pain associated with the headaches, which is so bad they have earned the nickname "suicide headaches."

That decision — which also highlighted the need to consider a patient's Charter rights — is being hailed by others fighting to access psilocybin for medical reasons.

Requests to access controlled substances in special medical circumstances are filed through Health Canada's Special Access Program (SAP). In their July 12, 2023, SAP application Lance and his Calgary neurologist, William Jeptha Davenport, requested legal access psilocybin to help treat pain. Health Canada denied the request due to lack of research into the efficacy of the drug to treat cluster headaches.

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[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I'm honestly surprised the pharmaceutical companies aren't championing the cause to legalize mushrooms so they can corner the market on them.

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Can't patent them, so it isn't as lucrative a revenue stream as something they have exclusive rights to. Whether or not it works is always secondary.

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Pharmaceuticals are a money making business .... their secondary role is medical care ... if we allowed them and gave them the patents, they would be happy to sell and distribute cocaine and heroin if it meant they could profit from it.

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 8 points 2 years ago

Heroin was originally developed as a pharmaceutical, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is still being manufactured and distributed as such somewhere in the world. Morphine has certainly never gone out of style.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 2 years ago

That makes it kind of value-neutral. If they want to make IP money, they could always develop a slightly enhanced derivative.

I don't know, I don't buy the "miracle herbs" thing. It seems like a ploy for people selling herbs more than anything.

[–] CeeBee@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The difficulty in patenting and mass producing bacteriaphages is the reason we don't have them available in Western countries. But they are available in other places like Russia.

Bacteriaphages would be a huge boon to dealing with antibiotic resistant strains.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I thought bacteriophages were used against antibiotic-resistant infections, not cluster headaches.

[–] Stardust@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

I believe they were using it as an example of failure to corner the market, that is, in reply to the previous person's comment and not directly to the main post.

[–] CeeBee@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Not talking about cluster headaches