Correcting the Record: What The New York Times Got Wrong

March 7, 2025By Psymposia

In response to the The New York Times February 4 article, “How a Leftist Activist Group Helped Torpedo a Psychedelic Therapy,” Psymposia requested corrections to numerous errors and false accusations. The New York Times was contacted with these requests on February 5 and February 7. Of these corrections, The Times only made two minor corrections — adding that a source in their article, Bia Labate, is an employee of MAPS, and adjusting a factual inaccuracy about Psymposia’s 501c3 status. All other correction requests were dismissed. 

Below is what The New York Times got wrong.

1) NYT article: “Neşe Devenot, one of the speakers opposed to Lykos’s treatment and a writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University, told the committee.”

Dr. Devenot identified their title during a superficial “fact check” that did not include any of the story’s allegations. The correction was not included in the original published article, however.

Jacobs: You are a writing instructor at Johns Hopkins University

Devenot: No, that is incorrect. I request to be attributed as follows:

Dr. Neşe Devenot is a psychedelic ethicist, researcher, and Senior Lecturer in the University Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University. (Note: At JHU, Senior Lecturers are full-time faculty members.)

2) NYT article: “Dr. Devenot and six others presented themselves as experts in the field of psychedelics, but none had expertise in medicine or therapy.”

This is false. Only 3 members of Psymposia participated in the FDA advisory committee meeting, where all members disclosed their relevant expertise.

At the advisory committee, Dr. Devenot stated they had “expertise in psychedelic bioethics.” This is correct. Dr. Devenot completed a postdoc in bioethics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and they have first-author publications in the field of psychedelic medicine. (Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38588216/)

Russell Hausfeld never presented himself as having “expertise in medicine or therapy.” In Hausfeld’s recorded testimony, he stated: “For the last eight years in my capacity as a journalist, I have followed the developments of the sponsor organization Lykos Therapeutics, or as it was known until earlier this  year, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation.”

3) NYT article: “Nor had the speakers disclosed their connection to Psymposia”

Psymposia’s presenting members did not hide their affiliation. They disclosed their connection to Psymposia in a public press release on June 3, 2024.

Furthermore, FDA’s rules for disclosures only recommended disclosing financial ties to the sponsor: “FDA encourages you to incorporate into your presentation an explanation of your financial association, if any with the company whose product is being considered by the FDA advisory committee.” Psymposia has no financial ties to Lykos.

4) NYT article: “The significance of Psymposia’s role in torpedoing Lykos’s bid is unclear.”

This line contradicts the title: “How a Leftist Activist Group Helped Torpedo a Psychedelic Therapy.”

5) NYT article: “Buoyed by the F.D.A.’s rejection, Psymposia and its allies have expanded their attacks, including against veterans groups that defended Lykos’s application and psychedelic researchers at Johns Hopkins University.”

This is a false and defamatory accusation that contains no evidence. Dr. Devenot is an employee of Johns Hopkins University, and neither they nor Psymposia has “attack[ed]” psychedelic researchers at Johns Hopkins, nor have they “attack[ed]” veterans.This is a false and defamatory accusation that contains no evidence. Dr. Devenot is an employee of Johns Hopkins University, and neither they nor Psymposia has “attack[ed]” psychedelic researchers at Johns Hopkins, nor have they “attack[ed]” veterans.

6) NYT article: “Jonathan Lubecky, a retired U.S. Army sergeant and a psychedelic medicine policy advocate, said he believed MDMA would eventually be approved.”

The article fails to disclose to readers that Jonathan Lubecky was a “Veterans & Governmental Affairs [sic] Liason for MAPS.”

7) NYT article: “Dr. Devenot, a self-described expert in psychedelic bioethics who uses gender neutral pronouns, often refers to their experience as a sexual assault survivor whose healing was aided by psychedelics. After being “bullied out of the mainstream” psychedelic movement, Dr. Devenot said they connected with other “very marginalized” individuals at Psymposia.”

This is false. “Self-described expert” implies that Dr. Devenot does not have legitimate expertise, which is false. Andrew Jacobs had asked about Dr. Devenot’s expertise prior to publishing.

Jacobs: You have expertise in bioethics

Dr. Devenot: Yes, I’m an expert in psychedelic bioethics. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and I am an Affiliate Researcher with the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.

8) NYT article: “In 2019, Psymposia activists criticized Beatriz Labate, executive director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, an educational nonprofit, after her organization published a series of interviews about sexual transgressions in the psychedelics community and included a man seeking forgiveness for past violations.

The fallout was immediate, she said, with speakers and sponsors pulling out of a conference she had been organizing, and disinviting her from other events. ‘I really felt my whole career was finished,’ Dr. Labate said.”

The original article failed to disclose to readers that Dr. Bia Labate is currently employed as a Public Education and Culture Specialist for MAPS (this was added as a correction after Psymposia contacted NYT).

This is especially egregious and irresponsible reporting considering that the “man seeking forgiveness for past violations” sexually assaulted Dr. Devenot. This information has been publicly available for years.

Sources:

Dr. Devenot faced retaliation after notifying Dr. Bia Labate — a MAPS employee — of this sexual assault. Jacobs and Nuwer’s piece is a continuation of this retaliation. This should cast serious doubt on the reliability of Jacobs and Nuwer’s reporting and sources.

For years, Dr. Devenot has been targeted by Dr. Labate. Dr. Labate has admitted in writing to limiting Dr. Devenot’s professional opportunities: “I further commit here to formally refraining from behaviors that actively seek to limit your professional opportunities,” Dr. Labate once emailed Dr. Devenot.

As written, this story gives the misleading impression that this dynamic occurred in reverse.

9) NYT article: “After the trial concluded, the male therapist, Richard Yensen, began a sexual relationship with [a Phase 2 participant].”

This is false and inaccurate. A client cannot consent to a sexual relationship with their therapist. It was sexual abuse, not a sexual relationship.

The abuse did not occur “after the trial concluded,” but during the trial, as has been widely reported and admitted to by MAPS leadership. Sources:

Psychedelics Today

Michael Mithoefer, MD (MAPS Senior Medical Director): “[W]e had an ethical [sic] serious sexual ethical boundary violation by one of the therapists in Vancouver during the phase two trials. It didn’t happen until after the active part of the study, but the person [Phase 2 participant] still hadn’t finished the final measures.”

10) NYT article: “’If you don’t agree with their view on a particular issue or say anything that deviates from the narrative they’re pushing, you’re automatically labeled as supporting sexual assault or being ethically questionable,’ said Manesh Girn”

This is false. We were never given the opportunity to respond to this accusation, as promised by Jacobs.

11) NYT article: “Of the 32 speakers, 10 opposed Lykos’s application. Seven of those 10 were affiliated with Psymposia, though none mentioned their connection to the group.”

This is inaccurate. In the fact check, we provided the names of all five members of Psymposia. Furthermore, there is no clarity about the identity of the four non-Psymposia members whom the authors assert were ‘affiliated’ with Psymposia, nor about the nature of the affiliation they claim.

12) NYT article: “But the incident, detailed in a book chapter Ms. Gold wrote, involved ketamine, not MDMA. And rather than being “pinned down,” Ms. Gold said the patient was consensually pushing against her hands, which were passively raised.”

Dr. Devenot already addressed this in their Substack and in communications with the journalists. Gold is contradicting her public statements and denying the explicit presence of this dangerous modality in the MAPS therapy manual.

13) NYT article: “Founded in 2014 as a nonprofit media organization”

This was incorrectly printed in the original article and corrected after Psymposia contacted NYT. Psymposia was not founded in 2014 as a nonprofit. From 2014-2020, Psymposia was registered as an LLC. The nonprofit was formed in 2020.

14) NYT article: “In their public testimony, Dr. Devenot repeated an explosive accusation they had shared with ICER: One of the therapists who took part in Lykos’s clinical trials, Veronika Gold, had admitted to pinning down a screaming patient. But the incident, detailed in a book chapter Ms. Gold wrote, involved ketamine, not MDMA. And rather than being “pinned down,” Ms. Gold said the patient was consensually pushing against her hands, which were passively raised. Dr. Devenot also testified that Ms. Gold had used a similar practice with a clinical trial participant. Ms. Gold said the incident did not happen, a claim backed up by Lykos, which said it reviewed videos of her therapy sessions.”

a) This is inaccurate and misleading. Dr. Devenot does not only describe an incident from Gold’s book. Dr. Devenot also relates the book’s case study to the Phase 2 trial participant’s abuse and introduces a similar account of abuse that was endured by an anonymous Phase 3 trial participant source. In their testimony, Dr. Devenot first described the incident in Veronika Gold’s book to illustrate that the technique was endorsed by many members of the field (the book is explicitly endorsed by MAPS leadership as a teaching resource for therapists). Separate from describing the technique, Dr. Devenot noted how these techniques were normalized, and they related these techniques to the Phase 2 trial participant’s abuse. After this, Devenot introduced a quote from one of Gold’s Phase 3 trial participants.

b) Contradicting the NYT’s photograph of Gold’s technique, Gold admitted that her patients lie down while they are engaged in focused bodywork. Applying pressure while a client repeatedly asks for the touch to stop amounts to restraint. Furthermore, Gold publicly admits that she opened her ketamine practice to provide MAPS therapy before MDMA approval.

15) NYT article: “The group has no paid staff and operates as an informal collective of psychedelic industry watchdogs united by their “desire to disrupt the status quo,” Brett Greene, a former member of the organization and one of its founders, said on a podcast in 2016.”

This is inaccurate and misleading. As we already clarified during the fact check, Psymposia is neither “loosely organized” nor “an informal collective” in any way. Furthermore, to cite Greene’s 9-year-old quote to bolster this inaccuracy is preposterous.

From the fact check:

Jacobs: “Psymposia operates as a loosely organized consortium of psychedelic industry watchdogs.”

Dr. Devenot: “No, it is not accurate to describe Psymposia as a “loosely organized consortium.” Refer to Psymposia as a 501(c)(3) pro-psychedelic non-profit. We are academics, journalists, researchers, harm reductionists, and patient advocates. Members are myself, Dr. Brian Pace, Brian Normand, Russell Hausfeld, and James Curtis.”

16) NYT article: “Another longtime Psymposia ally, Sasha Sisko, has been pressuring academic journals to retract studies based on Lykos’s clinical trials.”

As the full list of members made clear prior to publication, Sasha Sisko is in no way affiliated with Psymposia. Sisko has made multiple public statements to this effect:

Archived statement from Sasha Sisko.

As other outlets have managed to accurately report, Sisko is an independent journalist.