Doug Collins’ Fight for Vets Deserves a Win: The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act

At Grunt Style Foundation, we’re sick of watching veterans suffer—6,300 to 7,000 lost to suicide yearly—while the VA’s old tricks fail us. We’re calling out SSRIs, those psychotropic pills we believe are pumping suicidal ideation into vets with side effects that hurt more than heal. Enough’s enough. The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025, hitting Congress today, could turn the tide, and VA Secretary Doug Collins is already swinging for the fences with ideas this bill can lock in—psychedelics over pills, trust over red tape. Congress, this is your chance to back a vet who’s all in and deliver for those who’ve earned it. Republicans, step up. Democrats, join the fight. Let’s get this done.

Collins: The Vet We Need

Doug Collins isn’t here to shuffle papers. He’s a vet—Air Force Reserve Colonel, Iraq vet, burn pit survivor—who’s done with the VA taking hits without a counterpunch. “You’re not going to kick around the VA anymore without offering solutions,” he told Shawn Ryan on the Shawn Ryan Show. “I’ll take the arrows… but we’re damn sure going to try.” That’s a warrior’s heart, and he’s aiming it at vets’ real needs. When Shawn pushed psychedelics, Collins leaned in, citing a Bronx study with “tremendous change” and hunting for data to scale it. The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act matches that fire—five VA hubs to test and roll out MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine, and ketamine. Collins is ready—this bill’s his ammo.

SSRIs: The Failing Fix

The VA’s dumped $3 billion into suicide prevention, and we’re still burying brothers and sisters. “What we’re doing ain’t working,” Collins said, and we’re with him. At Grunt Style Foundation, we’re zeroing in on SSRIs—selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors clogging the system. Studies show they can spike suicidal thoughts early on, with agitation and numbness that can break a vet already hanging by a thread. Half our suicides never reach the VA, and too many who do get pills that might push them over the edge. Collins sees the wreckage: “Explain to me how… $15 billion in six years… and the number is unchanged.”

Our Warcry for Change initiative is the rally cry: scrap the psychotropics, bring on psychedelics. Shawn told Collins about a Green Beret buddy, TBI-ravaged—bedridden, vertigo-crippled—who went to Mexico for ibogaine. Result? Cane’s gone, life’s back. Collins’ response? “We know from cases like that it is working… a dead-on treatment for what they need.” That’s the kind of fix this bill’s centers could deliver—real healing, not more ghosts.

Trust and Grit: Collins’ Playbook

Shawn Ryan laid it bare: “Guys like me don’t trust the VA. We just don’t.” Too many vets walk away feeling like targets, not teammates. Collins hears us—he’s gutting the bloat, with 480,000 employees outpacing the Army. He’s canned 2,400 non-essentials—publicists, not docs—growling, “Give me an HR tool that actually lets me know where they are.” He’s shifting $500 million to suicide, prosthetics, and community care, proving vets come first. The bill amplifies that, streamlining hubs to cut the crap and get care where it counts.

He’s open to teaming up, too. Shawn pitched vouchers for trusted nonprofits like VETS or All Secure, and Collins jumped: “Everything’s on the table… can we partner with that?” The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act backs him—centers linking with medical schools and providers to push therapies fast. That’s trust rebuilt, one vet saved at a time, and Collins is already on the hunt.

Psychedelics: Our Warcry, Collins’ Target

Our Warcry for Change demands psychedelics over psychotropics—treatments that work, not wound. Collins is right there, plotting with HHS’s Bobby Kennedy to dig into the research. Kennedy’s kid flipped his world with psychedelics, and Collins is hooked: “Is there other ways to help… reduce that dependency?” Hell yes—ibogaine, psilocybin, MDMA. The bill’s $30 million a year turns VA centers into proving grounds for what delivers. “I’m going to see if my numbers go down,” Collins said. That’s the results we’re screaming for.

What’s in the Bill: A Game-Changer for Vets

The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025, introduced by Rep. Correa (D-Calif.), requires the VA to designate at least five medical facilities as hubs for researching and delivering innovative therapies—MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine, 5-MeO-DMT, ketamine, and more—for conditions like PTSD, depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. It’s co-sponsored by Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), showing this isn’t a partisan pipe dream—it’s a bipartisan push for vets. The bill’s got heavy hitters behind it, endorsed by the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Wounded Warrior Project. It mandates partnerships with medical schools, a national consortium for better access, and annual reports to Congress, all backed by $30 million a year. This is the kind of bold move Collins is already fighting for—let’s make it real.

Congress, Arm Collins for the Win

Collins knows this takes Congress. “I’ve got to work that out in Congress,” he told Shawn, ready to storm the Hill with vet voices and data. “The best spokesman is the satisfied customer,” he said. The Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act is his shot—statutory muscle to stand up these centers, fund the fight, and smash the gridlock. Imagine a thousand vets testifying how psychedelics beat pills—our Warcry in action, fueling Collins’ charge.

Republicans, this is your moment to lead—back Collins, a vet and conservative who’s shaking the tree. Democrats, this is your cause too—veteran lives don’t care about party lines. Collins isn’t privatizing the VA—he’s making it fierce, and this bill’s the tool. Pass the Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025. Let’s stop losing vets to a busted system and start saving them with what works.

Grunt Style Foundation’s Call

We’re in this fight. Share this on X, tag your reps, and roar: Back Doug Collins with the Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025. Our Warcry for Change demands psychedelics, not psychotropics—Collins is swinging, and we’ve got his six. Let’s roll.