Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in Palliative Care
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2027-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Background: Terminally ill patients often experience significant psychosocial distress having
depressed mood, death anxiety, pain, and an overall poor quality of life. Recent evidence
from pilot studies suggests that serotonergic hallucinogens including lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin produce significant and sustained reductions of depressive
symptoms and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, and life meaning in patients
suffering from life-threatening diseases. Additionally, serotonergic hallucinogens may
produce antinociceptive effects.
Objective and Design: The study aims to evaluate effects of LSD on psychosocial distress in
60 patients suffering from an end-stage fatal disease with a life expectancy ≥12wks and ≤2yrs
in an active placebo-controlled double-blind parallel study. Patients will be allocated in a
2:1 ratio to one of the two intervention arms receiving either two moderate to high doses of
LSD (100 µg and 100 µg or 100 µg and 200 µg) as intervention and two low doses of LSD (25 µg
and 25 µg) as active-placebo control.