Philosopher Peter Singer’s newest column for Project Syndicate is titled “The Best Treatment for the Most Painful Medical Condition Is Illegal“, where he makes the overwhelming case for exemptions to laws prohibiting certain drugs. He cites our recent case series on cluster headache, published in May 2025, as well as our proposal that we incorporate explicit metrics for severe and extreme suffering into policymaking.
While there is also a strong case to be made for decriminalisation, or even regulated legal markets, as a means of supporting health-centred drug policies, it is imperative than governments do not stand in the way of patients seeking effective relief from excruciating pain. For drugs like psilocybin that have not yet been formally approved for cluster headache but have strong evidence of effectiveness, patients who are suffering should be able to legally access them for medical treatment, under compassionate use provisions. We already made this argument in our 2020 policy paper, co-signed by Peter Singer among others, and continue to advocate for better regulations and approval mechanisms to help patients in need.
Our case series was also mentioned in a talk given by Prof. Christian Lampl at a plenary session of the European Headache Congress, Lisbon, December 2025: