WASHINGTON – Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Tim Sheehy (D-MT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and John Boozman (R-AR) introduced the bipartisan Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act to increase veterans’ access to innovative health care and ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is prepared to better care for veterans with emerging mental health therapies.

This bill would establish a dedicated Office of Novel Therapeutics within the VA and ensure the department is prepared to safely evaluate and implement emerging therapies by establishing centralized governance, workforce readiness planning, and clinical implementation infrastructure within the Veterans Health Administration.

“When I got back from Iraq, I saw fellow Marines struggle in ways we weren’t prepared to treat. There’s no one way to address veterans’ mental health, and for those who don’t respond to existing treatments, we need to look at new ones. Emerging therapies like psychedelic treatment may offer real hope for veterans with PTSD when nothing else has. This bill makes sure we’re exploring every option to support them,” said Senator Gallego.

Emerging therapeutic interventions, including certain psychedelic-assisted therapies currently under FDA review, may significantly change how conditions such as PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, substance use disorders, traumatic brain injury, and chronic pain are treated. These therapies often require intensive clinical oversight, interdisciplinary care teams, and structured preparation and integration that differ from traditional outpatient care.

The bill aims to ensure the VA is prepared to safely implement emerging mental health treatments as they become available; strengthen coordination between research, clinical operations, and workforce training within VA; position the VA to lead the responsible evaluation and implementation of innovative therapies for veterans with complex mental health and brain health conditions; and help ensure veterans can access emerging treatments within VA’s integrated healthcare system rather than relying on costly or fragmented care outside the Department.

Gallego fought to include measures in the bill that direct the VA to study innovative therapies such as psychedelic treatment for veterans. He recently introduced the bipartisan Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025 to do the same.

“After young Americans who signed up to fight for our nation and were willing to give up their own lives for others come home, we better make sure the VA is ready to care for them and that they have access to the best, most innovative care available. The VA’s core mission is to care for veterans, and this bipartisan bill will help the hardworking men and women at the VA fulfill that critical mission,” said Senator Sheehy.

“Veterans suffering from invisible wounds like PTSD and depression deserve the same level of care from their VA as those with physical wounds, and it’s past time we do more to ensure our VA is equipped and prepared to navigate these Veterans’ unique needs. Our bipartisan legislation recognizes that the VA is uniquely positioned to oversee and administer this care as our Veterans’ medical center home and would cut red tape and establish groundbreaking infrastructure to more quickly review and approve emerging therapeutics for our wounded warriors. Equally important, it would require annual reports to Congress on clinical outcomes, research and success from innovative therapies so we could evaluate what works and establish those best practices Department-wide. Our bill is about making our VA work better for our heroes, and that should always be a bipartisan matter,” said Senator Duckworth.

“We owe it to veterans to ensure the VA can effectively facilitate access to new therapies and care upon FDA approval. Doing so will give them more options to improve their health, including recovering from the invisible wounds that represent a unique challenge to their well-being. I am proud of this bipartisan, proactive effort to meet the needs of our former servicemembers who have earned this support for all they have given to defend our nation and freedoms,” said Senator Boozman.

Read a one-pager on the bill HERE.

Read the full text of the bill HERE.