Samantha Barratt

Should government be able to shut down a privately funded clinical trial without cause? Urgent plea: If you care about people battling mental illness, please help us by signing this petition to keep a government official from shutting down a landmark privately funded inpatient trial of medical keto for schizophrenia in Maryland. Those of you who know our family's story know how personal this is for us. Our son might not be here today without medical keto therapy, and we desperately want others to have access to trials of this important treatment option. You can imagine how alarmed we are by this news as reported in @baltimoresun today: baltimoresun.com/2024/07/01/… In summary, Maryland’s Secretary of Health Laura Herrera Scott, MD, has halted a foundational ketogenic diet study among schizophrenia inpatients at the Spring Grove Hospital Center. The study is being conducted in conjunction with the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center at the University of Maryland. It is led by Professor Deanna Kelly, who has conducted more than 25 NIH and foundation-sponsored trials. Notably, this landmark trial is the only inpatient study of ketogenic therapy for serious mental illness in the United States. Halting this trial needlessly slows the progress of metabolic psychiatry research and begs the question of who has the authority to decide what science should be pursued and on what grounds. According to the Sun, the patient population at Spring Grove is “a vulnerable group of people, who often have a history of homelessness and untreated or treatment-resistant mental illnesses. Roughly 70% are Black. Many are from economically disadvantaged families or have fallen from higher socioeconomic levels due to illness or drug use.” We have to ask ourselves whether the Maryland Health Department should have the right to prevent these consenting patients from accessing new treatments through clinical research. Before the Secretary’s action, repeated attempts were made to discuss the study and its potential with Secretary Herrera Scott. Advocates, patients, caregivers, and legislators also appealed to the Secretary, asking her to reconsider the decision. The Maryland Psychiatric Society, representing 775 psychiatrists in the state of Maryland, formally requested that the research be allowed to continue: “The prospect of discontinuing essential research programs not only threatens the rights of patients but also undermines the efforts of dedicated healthcare professionals striving to provide the best possible care. The ramifications of such a decision extend far beyond the confines of these centers, impacting disadvantaged and disabled individuals across Maryland who rely on the benefits of esteemed and reliable research and clinical programs for access to innovative treatments and specialized care.” mdpsych.org/wp-content/uploa… After a 16-week review, the Health Department found no health and safety concerns and confirmed the keto trial decision was not based on human subject concerns. It was described as a “procedural” decision and appears without clear cause. I urge you to share this tweet widely and to sign the petition authored by @ChrisPalmerMD which calls on Secretary Herrera Scott to immediately reverse her decision: chng.it/xz78wPNzgj You can also contact the Secretary directly and ask her to immediately reverse her decision: Social media: Fundin Email: [email protected] Phone: (410) 767-4639, 1-877-463-3464 (toll-free, Maryland), tdd: 1-800-735-2258 (toll-free) Together, I hope we can persuade the secretary to overturn this decision and protect the rights of patients to access cutting-edge research.