San Antonio, TX, April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the span of seven days, the partnership between Grunt Style Foundation (GSF), a member of the Veterans Mental Health and Leadership Coalition (VMHLC), alongside their partnership with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) has delivered two of the most consequential policy wins in the fight against veteran suicide this decade — a fight GSF has led through its War Cry for Change campaign and one the VFW has championed as a top legislative priority.
Last week, country music artist and veteran advocate John Rich announced that U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins has agreed to implement informed written consent at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for Black Box Warning classes of psychotropic medications — the same drugs implicated in the deaths of tens of thousands of veterans over the past two decades. The announcement followed a coordinated strategic briefing, built on years of evidence and advocacy from GSF, the VFW, and a growing coalition of veteran service organizations.
Days later, on Saturday, April 18, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order from the Oval Office directing the Food and Drug Administration to expedite review of psychedelic compounds already designated as Breakthrough Therapies for treatment-resistant PTSD, depression, and addiction. The order commits $50 million in federal research funding and instructs HHS, the FDA, and the VA to collaborate on accelerating clinical trial participation — an outcome GSF has been building toward for more than four years.
“This is what it looks like when veterans stop waiting for permission and start driving the national conversation. Our partnership with the VFW is built on a shared truth: no veteran should die from the treatment that was supposed to save them. These two wins — informed written consent at the VA and a Presidential directive opening the door to breakthrough therapies — are a direct answer to what may be over 44 veterans we lose every single day. We are not slowing down. We are not softening our voice. Grunt Style Foundation and the VFW will keep pushing until veteran suicide is no longer a statistic, but a memory.”
— Tim Jensen, Strategic Advocacy & Chairman, Grunt Style Foundation
A FOUR-YEAR FIGHT, DELIVERED IN ONE WEEK
In January 2024, Grunt Style Foundation submitted a Presidential Executive Order proposal to the White House titled “Expanding Access.” The proposal called on the President to expand access to alternative, research-backed mental health therapies — specifically, psychedelic-assisted treatments such as psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine — for veterans, law enforcement officers, and first responders suffering from PTSD, TBI, and other treatment-resistant conditions.
Built on the principles of the Right to Try Act, the order proposed five core provisions: a Right to Try for psychedelic-assisted therapies under licensed medical or certified spiritual supervision; VA integration through a Community Care pilot program that vets and approves licensed therapy centers and spiritual retreat organizations; public-private collaboration across federal agencies, private industry, universities, and nonprofits to drive research, funding, and delivery; legal safeguards and liability protections for participating veterans, first responders, and certified providers; and expanded community engagement to bring care into rural, underserved, and high-risk areas.
The stated goal was to reduce suicide rates, restore treatment autonomy to those who have served, strengthen public-private partnerships, and extend the Right to Try framework into mental health care as a compassionate response to a national crisis.
THE VFW PARTNERSHIP
The VFW has carried informed written consent as a top legislative priority, working alongside GSF and a growing block of veteran service organizations to push the policy through Congress and into the VA. Two bills are currently in motion on Capitol Hill.
“The VFW didn’t just sign on — they led,” said Will Wisner, Executive Director of Grunt Style Foundation. “When the VFW stands with you, you’re moving the country. That’s the weight of this partnership.”
THE COALITION BEHIND THE BREAKTHROUGH
Grunt Style Foundation’s work on psychedelic-assisted therapies does not stand alone. GSF is a proud member of the Veterans Mental Health and Leadership Coalition (VMHLC), a national coalition of more than 50 veteran-led organizations, clinicians, researchers, and advocates united under a single mission: to end the veteran suicide epidemic through bold, veteran-led action and expanded access to safe, effective, research-backed alternative therapies.
For years, VMHLC and its member organizations have led the national conversation on psychedelic-assisted therapy — submitting public comment to the FDA, testifying before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, helping more than 1,000 veterans access these treatments outside U.S. borders, and advocating for tens of millions of dollars in state-level research funding. Saturday’s Executive Order is the clearest federal acknowledgment to date of the work this coalition has carried for nearly a decade.
“When you belong to a coalition like VMHLC, you don’t fight alone,” Jensen said. “You fight with fifty other organizations who’ve been in the trenches on this for years. Saturday’s Executive Order is a coalition win, and GSF is proud to stand inside it.”
PRESIDENTIAL ACTION ON BREAKTHROUGH THERAPIES
Saturday’s Executive Order marks the first time a sitting President has directed federal agencies to expedite access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for the treatment of PTSD, depression, and addiction. The order names breakthrough-designated compounds, allocates $50 million in research funding, and opens a Right to Try pathway for terminally and desperately ill patients. Secretary Collins, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and podcaster Joe Rogan were present at the Oval Office signing.
For GSF, the order validates four years of work through its Alternative Healing program, HBOT partnership with Burn Pits 360, and ongoing advocacy for research-backed, non-pharmacological approaches to the mental health conditions driving the veteran suicide epidemic.
WHAT COMES NEXT
GSF and the VFW will continue building toward durable legislative protection of informed written consent, moving beyond VA policy implementation toward statutory guarantee. On May 25, Grunt Style Foundation will host the USA 250 Memorial Benefit Concert at Nashville Palace — featuring country artists, veteran health organizations, businesses, and influencers united around the mission.
For the 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.
ABOUT GRUNT STYLE FOUNDATION
Grunt Style Foundation (GSF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating as a DBA of Irreverent Warriors Inc., headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. GSF’s mission is to drive down veteran suicide through four pillars: Mental Health, Wellness & Suicide Prevention. Signature programs include War Cry for Change, Alternative Healing, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in partnership with Burn Pits 360, and Irreverent Warriors.
Press Grunt Style Foundation 877 554 7868 info@gruntstylefoundation.org