“Howard Kessler, a friend of mine and one of the most successful people in the country, came to see me, on more than one occasion actually, and he had some real difficulty about three and a half to four years ago, and he went through hell. And during his going through hell, he probably sampled everything you can sample when you’re going through that. And he came to me and said there’s been nothing like this, we’re going to have to take a good, strong look at it, and that’s what he asked me to do… I’m not going to be taking it, but a lot of people do want it, a lot of people do need it, and thank you Howard for clearly opening a lot of eyes.”

— President Donald Trump

“My friend Howard Kessler, who has driven this change in the schedule and he did it because of his own experience in mitigating the effects of chemotherapy. He has nothing to gain from this. He just saw something that worked for him, that worked for thousands of other Americans and he wants to make it available for them.”

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr., United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

“Howard Kessler, who’s standing behind me here, who’s a mutual friend of ours, was an early caller of the President, many others have reached out as well. And Howard’s been an impassioned advocate for avoiding narcotics, especially in seniors, and particularly seniors suffering from cancer. That’s a population that is a very important one… Howard Kessler, God Bless you for being a pain in our sides.”

— Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,

To read the full text of the Executive Order, please visit the White House webpage.