(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez directed nearly $20,000 in campaign funds to a psychiatrist who specializes in ketamine-based treatments, according to a new report.
The payments, totaling $18,725, were made to Dr. Brian Boyle, who serves as the chief psychiatric officer at Boston-based mental health clinic Stella and whose specialty centers on interventional treatments like “Spravato, TMS therapy, stellate ganglion blocks and ketamine therapy.”
Ketamine was tied to the high-profile death of Friends star Matthew Perry, who was found unresponsive at his home in 2023.
It is unclear what the payments were specifically for. However, campaign disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission — first reported Monday by the New York Post and reviewed by Headline USA — list them as “leadership training” and “consulting.”
Headline USA reached Boyle by phone Monday evening, but he hung up as soon as he heard the publication’s name, saying, “I’m afraid I have to go.”
Neither Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional office nor her campaign responded to requests for comment about the nature of the payments.
The transactions include $11,550 on March 10, $2,800 on May 15 and $4,375 on Oct. 1.
Headline USA did not find any record of other campaigns paying Boyle in Federal Election Commission filings dating back to 2013.
Boyle has publicly promoted the practice, saying in a 2025 podcast that he “just saw the incredible power of what these treatments could do,” according to the outlet.
“It’s a ton of fun helping patients get better,” Boyle added.
Ocasio-Cortez’s payments to Boyle come as she has supported experimental mental health treatments.
Among her positions are efforts such as ending the federal prohibition on marijuana and proposing legislation to study psychedelics, including psilocybin.
She has also touted her work to “expand accessibility to psychedelics” for PTSD treatment.
“From the opioid crisis to psilocybin’s potential w/ PTSD, it’s well past time we take drug use out of criminal consideration + into medical consideration,” she wrote in 2019. “That begins with research. I’m proud to introduce an amendment that helps scientists do their jobs.”
Read full article here