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Within a week, Grunt Style Foundation (GSF) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) under the Veteran Mental Health and Leadership Coalition (VMHLC) have spurred two major victories in the battle against veteran suicide: informed written consent for psychotropic medication at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and an Executive Order for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite review of psychedelic treatments.
Veteran suicide is a national epidemic with over 17 veterans ending their lives per day. Since 9/11, at least four times as many active duty personnel and veterans have died by suicide than combat. Seemingly dismissed by the government, organizations such as GSF and VFW under the growing VMHLC have intervened where institutions have failed to tackle the issue.This coalition includes clinicians, researchers, organizations, and advocates all dedicated to using veteran-led solutions and research-backed alternative therapies to end the veteran suicide crisis once and for all.
After years of research, preparation, and lobbying, the government has finally listened.
Secretary Doug Collins agreed to provide written informed consent for black box psychotropic prescriptions. According to GSF, 68% of veterans are prescribed psychiatric drugs as compared to 16.5% of civilians. 28% are given antidepressants. Those prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) had a 3.4x greater suicide rate than those who chose "non-treatment. As per FDA labels, all antidepressants carry a suicide risk warning label. However, due to the lack of legislation surrounding informed consent, former service members had no idea that the pill meant to help them increased their risk of killing themselves. This announcement comes after years of advocacy at the hands of GSF, VFW, and other organizations under the VMHLC.
Tim Jensen, President of the Board of Directors of GSW said: "For veterans still being prescribed medications they were never warned about, and for the families of those who did not survive them, the message is simple: the country is finally listening and the work is finally moving. " Informed consent would allow a veteran to know what risks their treatments entail and make an empowered decision accordingly.
On April 18th, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order instructing the FDA to expedite the review of psychedelic therapies already approved for treatment of depression, treatment-resistant PTSD, and addiction. Under this order, $50 million in federal research funding will be committed to the matter. The FDA, HHS, and VA will work together to accelerate clinical trial participation. For GSF, this is a testament of four years of work towards expanding treatment options. In fact, this order was built off a 2024 Presidential Executive Order request dubbed "Expanding Access" written by GSF.
This Executive Order marks the first time that a sitting President has directed federal agencies to expedite access to psychedelic-assisted therapies. VFW National Commander, Carol Whitmore stated: "This Executive Order has been a long time coming and reflects years of advocacy from the veterans' community, especially GSF...they have advocated that cocktails of pills alone are not enough to treat veterans' mental illnesses...that is why the stroke of the president's pen over the weekend has the potential to save lives today and into the future."
These policy changes alone will not end the veteran suicide crisis. However, they represent a systemic shift from one-size-fits-all solutions towards transparency, choice, and innovation. After years of loss, research, and advocacy, veterans are forcing the system to change rather than waiting.
