Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40800003›Full record

ReviewNeuroscience applied2025

Implementing psychedelic-assisted therapy: History and characteristics of the Swiss limited medical use program.

Matthias E Liechti, Peter Gasser, Helena D Aicher, Felix Mueller, Tadeusz Hawrot, Yasmin Schmid

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Neuroscience applied, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Trials, trips, and tribulations: pathways for implementing psychedelic therapy in Ireland.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Current perspectives on psychedelic treatments in Europe.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Matthias E LiechtiDivision of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Peter GasserPractice for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Solothurn, Switzerland.
Helena D AicherDivision of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Felix MuellerDivision of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Tadeusz HawrotPsychedelic Access and Research European Alliance (PAREA), Brussels, Belgium.
Yasmin SchmidDivision of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel and University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This article describes the Swiss limited access program for psychedelic/3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health can issue authorizations for the limited medical use of otherwise prohibited substances. To be eligible, patients suffer from a mostly incurable disease, the prohibited substance can alleviate the suffering, and there are no alternative treatments, or such treatments have already extensively been used with insufficient outcome. The current program started in 2014 with two physicians. In 2024, there were approximately 100 physicians who held authorizations to treat 723 patients with MDMA (245 patients), lysergic acid diethylamide (130 patients), or psilocybin (348 patients). There were approximately 1660 psychedelic/MDMA-assisted treatments in 2024, with patients typically being treated 2-4 times with the respective substance within 12 months. Various aspects of the program, including its history, provider characteristics and setting, legal requirements, treatment cost, the role of professional societies, education and continuous formation, personal experience, patient characteristics, outcome, and adverse effects, are described and discussed relative to other recently established programs in Canada and Australia. Such information could be of interest to psychedelic-assisted therapy stakeholders, including professionals, patients, and regulatory bodies that are considering setting up similar restricted access programs.

Indexed as

Limited accessLSDMDMAMedical usePsilocybinPsychedelic

Identifiers

PMID40800003
PMCPMC12341733

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.