Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
SAN ANDREAS - Additional medical-marijuana patients have come forward to say they were told they were unwelcome at clinics operated by Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital.
New allegations surfaced after hospital officials in early July said they have no policy barring medical-marijuana patients from receiving care and that, in fact, some Mark Twain physicians have even written recommendations for patients to use medical marijuana.
Sam Slayter, a disabled veteran living near Valley Springs, was the first to go public with his account. Slayter said he had been told by Dr. Rafael Rosado that he couldn't receive care at a Mark Twain clinic in Valley Springs unless he promised to discontinue his use of medical marijuana.
At the time, hospital President Feliciano Jiron and Dr. Sean Anderson, the hospital's vice president of medical affairs, suggested that Slayter may have misunderstood Rosado.
Since then, other patients have reported similar experiences, saying they were asked to sign forms promising not to use medical marijuana and were told not just by Rosado but also by front-office staff that Mark Twain doctors were no longer allowed to write medical-marijuana recommendations.
"When I called in, I was in pain. I told them I was in pain. I was trying to get a hold of my own doctor," said David Jack, 68, who suffers from a congenital brain tumor.
Rather than scheduling him an appointment with his long-time physician, Dr. Paul Jacobson, Jack said the clinic receptionist told him he would not be allowed to see a doctor unless he signed a form promising not to use medical marijuana.
Jack said he then called a higher-ranking administrator, and she said the same thing.
"She went into an absolute rant about how Dr. Jacobson should not have ever given me a recommendation for cannabis," Jack said.
Neither Rosado nor hospital administrators nor Jacobson responded to requests for comment. In an earlier email, Rosado said the form is something recommended by the American Academy of Pain Medicine in cases where patients require potentially addictive narcotics.
"The true issue here is that we have a huge problem with patients who take prescribed pain medicines while also abusing illegal substances," Rosado wrote. "We would never turn anyone away for choosing to use marijuana as long as they are not being treated with a prescribed controlled substance or the use of the marijuana affects the care they receive at the clinic."
The form also states that the patients agree to random drug testing and understand they can be discharged from care if they test positive.
Rosado oversees care for all of Mark Twain's family medical clinics. Accounts by patients suggest that he and physicians in the clinics are in conflict over medical marijuana.
Both Jack and Paula Stevens, 45, who suffers back pain due to scoliosis and degenerative disc disease, said that other doctors apologized to them later after each initially had a run-in with Rosado over medical marijuana.
Stevens said that upon learning that Rosado had pressured her into signing the form and had withdrawn her pain medication, Dr. Rodger Orman told her "that's completely wrong. I don't want you to go back there. And I want you to complain to the board. That is not right."
Thomas Liberty is an activist with Collective Patient Resources, an organization that advocates for medical-marijuana patients in Calaveras County.
He said he's been contacted this month by seven medical-marijuana patients who said they've been pressured by staff at Mark Twain St. Joseph's clinics to sign a form promising not to use medical marijuana. Liberty said 17 people showed up at a meeting he organized to discuss how to respond to the hospital's policy.
"Nobody can understand why a hospital would treat people like this," Liberty said.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Copyright: 2011 The Record
Contact: Recordnet.com
Website: Recordnet.com
Details: MapInc
Author: Dana M. Nichols
New allegations surfaced after hospital officials in early July said they have no policy barring medical-marijuana patients from receiving care and that, in fact, some Mark Twain physicians have even written recommendations for patients to use medical marijuana.
Sam Slayter, a disabled veteran living near Valley Springs, was the first to go public with his account. Slayter said he had been told by Dr. Rafael Rosado that he couldn't receive care at a Mark Twain clinic in Valley Springs unless he promised to discontinue his use of medical marijuana.
At the time, hospital President Feliciano Jiron and Dr. Sean Anderson, the hospital's vice president of medical affairs, suggested that Slayter may have misunderstood Rosado.
Since then, other patients have reported similar experiences, saying they were asked to sign forms promising not to use medical marijuana and were told not just by Rosado but also by front-office staff that Mark Twain doctors were no longer allowed to write medical-marijuana recommendations.
"When I called in, I was in pain. I told them I was in pain. I was trying to get a hold of my own doctor," said David Jack, 68, who suffers from a congenital brain tumor.
Rather than scheduling him an appointment with his long-time physician, Dr. Paul Jacobson, Jack said the clinic receptionist told him he would not be allowed to see a doctor unless he signed a form promising not to use medical marijuana.
Jack said he then called a higher-ranking administrator, and she said the same thing.
"She went into an absolute rant about how Dr. Jacobson should not have ever given me a recommendation for cannabis," Jack said.
Neither Rosado nor hospital administrators nor Jacobson responded to requests for comment. In an earlier email, Rosado said the form is something recommended by the American Academy of Pain Medicine in cases where patients require potentially addictive narcotics.
"The true issue here is that we have a huge problem with patients who take prescribed pain medicines while also abusing illegal substances," Rosado wrote. "We would never turn anyone away for choosing to use marijuana as long as they are not being treated with a prescribed controlled substance or the use of the marijuana affects the care they receive at the clinic."
The form also states that the patients agree to random drug testing and understand they can be discharged from care if they test positive.
Rosado oversees care for all of Mark Twain's family medical clinics. Accounts by patients suggest that he and physicians in the clinics are in conflict over medical marijuana.
Both Jack and Paula Stevens, 45, who suffers back pain due to scoliosis and degenerative disc disease, said that other doctors apologized to them later after each initially had a run-in with Rosado over medical marijuana.
Stevens said that upon learning that Rosado had pressured her into signing the form and had withdrawn her pain medication, Dr. Rodger Orman told her "that's completely wrong. I don't want you to go back there. And I want you to complain to the board. That is not right."
Thomas Liberty is an activist with Collective Patient Resources, an organization that advocates for medical-marijuana patients in Calaveras County.
He said he's been contacted this month by seven medical-marijuana patients who said they've been pressured by staff at Mark Twain St. Joseph's clinics to sign a form promising not to use medical marijuana. Liberty said 17 people showed up at a meeting he organized to discuss how to respond to the hospital's policy.
"Nobody can understand why a hospital would treat people like this," Liberty said.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Copyright: 2011 The Record
Contact: Recordnet.com
Website: Recordnet.com
Details: MapInc
Author: Dana M. Nichols
