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# Trump Officials Blocked Psychedelic Drug from Voucher Program
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/trump-officials-blocked-psychedelic-drug-from-voucher-program/
- Published: 2026-02-04T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T15:32:29.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5160608

Senior officials in the Trump administration intervened last year to prevent FDA from placing a promising new psychedelic treatment for severe depression on a priority fast-track review list, according to multiple media reports. The treatment, developed by Compass Pathways and derived from psilocybin — the psychedelic compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms” — had been selected by FDA scientists as one of several candidates likely to benefit from an expedited regulatory review under the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher initiative, which is designed to accelerate approval for select drugs with major potential impact.

However, when FDA commissioner **Marty Makary** presented the proposed priority list in October to HHS and White House officials, Trump administration leaders vetoed the plan’s inclusion of the psilocybin treatment, sources told STAT News. The exclusion occurred just hours before the FDA publicly announced the first group of voucher recipients, leaving the Compass therapy off the final list.

The decision highlights possible internal disagreements between career scientific staff at the FDA and political officials aligned with the administration’s broader health agenda, sometimes dubbed the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. While other drugs made the priority list, the sole psychedelic candidate was dropped.

The Compass Pathways drug has been among the most closely watched potential psychedelic therapies in development for treatment-resistant depression. Proponents argue that psilocybin and similar compounds could offer a new class of treatments for debilitating mental health conditions. FDA’s voucher program — which aims to cut review times significantly — would have symbolized strong institutional support for that emerging class.

Administration officials have not publicly explained why the psilocybin treatment was excluded from the expedited review list. The move comes amid broader national debate over psychedelic therapies: federal regulators have previously rejected or delayed psychedelic-based applications, while some policymakers and advocates call for faster access to these experimental treatments.

The political interference is the kind that former FDA Oncology Center for Excellence director **Richard Pazdur** warned about [last month](https://www.fdaweb.com/pazdur-warns-about-political-interference-upheaval-at-fda/) at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. He said political interference and internal upheaval are eroding the agency’s ability to function as a science-driven organization, and the traditional firewall between scientific reviewers and political leadership has been weakened, creating what he described as growing “chaos” inside the agency.

Pazdur, who spent decades overseeing cancer drug approvals at FDA until he [retired last month](https://www.fdaweb.com/political-interference-prompted-pazdur-retirement-peter-pitts/) due to management tensions after recently accepting the position as CDER director, said that decisions historically grounded in scientific judgment are increasingly vulnerable to political pressure. He warned that this shift risks undermining confidence in the agency’s regulatory decisions and could ultimately affect patient safety.

According to accounts of the event, Pazdur criticized what he characterized as a breakdown in internal processes, including greater involvement by senior political appointees in matters traditionally handled by career scientists. He also raised concerns about transparency, saying that key discussions affecting drug approvals are sometimes occurring outside established review channels.