Could MDMA help heal healthcare Heroes' hidden wounds?
NCT ID NCT05455996
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a therapy that uses MDMA (the active ingredient in ecstasy) can safely reduce post-traumatic stress symptoms in frontline healthcare workers and first responders. About 30 participants will receive the drug alongside talk therapy sessions. The goal is to ease distressing memories and improve mental health, not to cure PTSD permanently.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Oct 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Were exposed to stressors related to their work in a health care setting or emergency response system * Are fluent in speaking and reading English. * Are able to swallow pills. * Agree to have study visits recorded, including Experimental Sessions, and non-drug therapy sessions. * Have a contact (relative, spouse, close friend or other Support Person) who is willing and able to be reached by the Sponsor-Investigators in the event of a participant becoming suicidal or unreachable. * Agree to inform the Sponsor-Investigators within 48 hours of any medical conditions and procedures. * If able to become pregnant, must have a negative pregnancy test at study entry and prior to each Experimental Session, and must agree to use adequate birth control through 10 days after the last Experimental Session. * Comply with requirements for fasting and refraining from certain medications prior to Experimental Sessions, not participate in any other interventional clinical trials during the duration of the study, be driven home after Experimental Sessions, and commit to medication dosing, therapy, and study procedures. Exclusion Criteria: * Have previously participated in a clinical treatment trial using MDMA. * Have a past diagnosis of PTSD unrelated to their work in the healthcare or emergency response systems. * Have received Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) within 12 weeks of enrollment. * Have a history of or a current primary psychotic disorder or bipolar I disorder * Have a current eating disorder with active purging * Have current major depressive disorder with psychotic features * Have a history of any medical condition that could make receiving a sympathomimetic drug harmful because of increases in blood pressure and heart rate * Have uncontrolled essential hypertension * Have a history of ventricular arrhythmia at any time, other than premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) in the absence of ischemic heart disease. * Have Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome or any other accessory pathway that has not been successfully eliminated by ablation. * Have a history of arrhythmia, other than premature atrial contractions (PACs) or occasional PVCs in the absence of ischemic heart disease, within 12 months of screening. * Have a marked Baseline prolongation of QT/QTc interval (e.g., repeated demonstration of a QTc interval \>450 milliseconds \[ms\] in males and \>460 ms in females corrected by Fridericia's formula). * Have a history of additional risk factors for Torsade de pointes (e.g., heart failure, hypokalemia, family history of Long QT Syndrome). * Require use of concomitant medications that prolong the QT/QTc interval during Experimental Sessions. * Have symptomatic liver disease or have significant liver enzyme elevations. * Have a history of hyponatremia or hyperthermia. * Weigh less than 48 kilograms (kg). * Are pregnant or nursing, or able to become pregnant and are not practicing an effective means of birth control.
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Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The study's own enquiry address
This study publishes an address for enquiries. See it below .
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The places running it
3 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Show contact details
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Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Locations
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InnerMost, PBC
New York, New York, 10010, United States
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Memoru
Boulder, Colorado, 80302, United States
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The Pearl Institute
Waynesville, North Carolina, 28786, United States
Contact Email: •••••@•••••
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can MDMA plus therapy help veterans fight both PTSD and alcohol addiction?
- Can talk therapies quiet the trauma of violence?