Robert Celt
New Member
New York doctors are signing up to recommend medical marijuana more quickly than some had anticipated. As of Jan. 28, 306 physicians had registered with the state, and they had helped 465 patients get certified for the program.
But cannabis medicine remains out of reach for many who are eligible, including those with epilepsy, cancer and the handful of other serious conditions approved for treatment.
That's partly because doctors who are early adopters are still educating themselves on cannabis and figuring out how to incorporate the treatment option into their practices. But the state Health Department has also created a much bigger hurdle by refusing to publish a list of physicians registered to recommend the drug, making it difficult for patients, who need certification for cannabis treatment, to find them.
Donna Romano, a 60-year-old veteran who lobbied for the Compassionate Care Act, knew that she would not be able to get certified for medical marijuana through her neurologist at the VA in Syracuse, since it's run by the federal government. But she had no idea how difficult it would be to find a doctor who could help her get cannabis to treat her multiple sclerosis and seizure disorder.
According to Romano, the first neurologist she approached said he was afraid to participate because it would open the doors to an onslaught of patients, overwhelming his private practice. She didn't have any luck at the Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse or Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, either. For now, she will stay with her doctor at the VA.
"Until I get a solid physician willing to recommend cannabis, I have no other option," said Romano. "I don't want to be without a neurologist."
Other patients who lobbied for the Compassionate Care Act have faced similar trouble getting certified now that the program is up and running. The Health Department did not respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to release a physician registry in the future.
In the meantime, some like Steven Mrowzinski, an acupuncturist on Long Island, will be making a business of referring potential cannabis patients to registered doctors. Since the first dispensaries opened on Jan. 7, he's had requests from about 50 people seeking doctors who are a match for their medical needs. By the end of January, he had a list of 35 registered doctors around the state. He found them by scanning the Internet and through word of mouth.
"I have my ear to the ground," said Mrowzinski, who was an avid lobbyist for the Compassionate Care Act.
For now, he said, the service provided by his company, Therapeutic Consultants, is free for doctors and patients. Starting in March, he will begin charging doctors a fee to be on his list.
Romano said she knows Mrowzinski through her advocacy work, but still prefers to avoid private referral services. "It just seems back-alley to me," she said.
Meanwhile, some patients are finding that their doctors are registered but are not yet ready to recommend cannabis.
Northwell Health (formerly North Shore-LIJ), one of several hospital systems in New York that has voiced support for the medical-marijuana program, has doctors that are registered, but they are are being asked to hold off on certifying patients until the hospital adopts certification guidelines.
"Given our size–we have nearly 3,000 full-time physicians–it's important for us to develop single standards and best practices that we can apply across our health system," a Northwell spokesman said in a statement.
That process will take about two months, he said. The doctors participating will include neurologists and specialists in infectious diseases and pain management, among others.
"We are in the process of increasing the level of comfort, because doctors have not talked about this in medical school," said Dr. Souhel Najjar, executive director of the neurology service line at Northwell and chair of neurology at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine.
NYU Langone Medical Center is also still developing a workflow for certifying potential patients, a spokeswoman said.
Getting comfortable with recommending marijuana can be a long process, said Dr. Bernie Lee, associate chief medical officer at MJHS, the state's largest hospice and palliative-care organization. Lee started seeing eligible patients last week.
"If physicians knew they had a subject-matter expert they could call on, that would give them a much better comfort zone," he said, adding that doctors frequently call on each other for advice on prescribing new medications.
But in the case of cannabis, the experts typically are not doctors. Lee said he has gone to several conferences and consulted with nonclinicians in the field to supplement the New York state's mandatory four-hour online course.
There are other accredited continuing-medical-education classes on cannabis physicians can take in addition to the state course, but they can be expensive. A class that will offer an in-person training for physicians in Queens in late February was charging $800 for a six-hour session.
Patients like Romano, who advocated for medical marijuana legalization, are getting impatient and frustrated with having to wait to get certified.
"As a patient, I fought for medical cannabis so I could enter a healing state with it," she said. "I want pharmaceutical-grade cannabis, and a doctor who has learned about it and can guide me."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Patients Say They Can't Find A Medical-Marijuana Doc In New York
Author: Caroline Lewis
Contact: Crain's
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Website: Crain's
But cannabis medicine remains out of reach for many who are eligible, including those with epilepsy, cancer and the handful of other serious conditions approved for treatment.
That's partly because doctors who are early adopters are still educating themselves on cannabis and figuring out how to incorporate the treatment option into their practices. But the state Health Department has also created a much bigger hurdle by refusing to publish a list of physicians registered to recommend the drug, making it difficult for patients, who need certification for cannabis treatment, to find them.
Donna Romano, a 60-year-old veteran who lobbied for the Compassionate Care Act, knew that she would not be able to get certified for medical marijuana through her neurologist at the VA in Syracuse, since it's run by the federal government. But she had no idea how difficult it would be to find a doctor who could help her get cannabis to treat her multiple sclerosis and seizure disorder.
According to Romano, the first neurologist she approached said he was afraid to participate because it would open the doors to an onslaught of patients, overwhelming his private practice. She didn't have any luck at the Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse or Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, either. For now, she will stay with her doctor at the VA.
"Until I get a solid physician willing to recommend cannabis, I have no other option," said Romano. "I don't want to be without a neurologist."
Other patients who lobbied for the Compassionate Care Act have faced similar trouble getting certified now that the program is up and running. The Health Department did not respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to release a physician registry in the future.
In the meantime, some like Steven Mrowzinski, an acupuncturist on Long Island, will be making a business of referring potential cannabis patients to registered doctors. Since the first dispensaries opened on Jan. 7, he's had requests from about 50 people seeking doctors who are a match for their medical needs. By the end of January, he had a list of 35 registered doctors around the state. He found them by scanning the Internet and through word of mouth.
"I have my ear to the ground," said Mrowzinski, who was an avid lobbyist for the Compassionate Care Act.
For now, he said, the service provided by his company, Therapeutic Consultants, is free for doctors and patients. Starting in March, he will begin charging doctors a fee to be on his list.
Romano said she knows Mrowzinski through her advocacy work, but still prefers to avoid private referral services. "It just seems back-alley to me," she said.
Meanwhile, some patients are finding that their doctors are registered but are not yet ready to recommend cannabis.
Northwell Health (formerly North Shore-LIJ), one of several hospital systems in New York that has voiced support for the medical-marijuana program, has doctors that are registered, but they are are being asked to hold off on certifying patients until the hospital adopts certification guidelines.
"Given our size–we have nearly 3,000 full-time physicians–it's important for us to develop single standards and best practices that we can apply across our health system," a Northwell spokesman said in a statement.
That process will take about two months, he said. The doctors participating will include neurologists and specialists in infectious diseases and pain management, among others.
"We are in the process of increasing the level of comfort, because doctors have not talked about this in medical school," said Dr. Souhel Najjar, executive director of the neurology service line at Northwell and chair of neurology at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine.
NYU Langone Medical Center is also still developing a workflow for certifying potential patients, a spokeswoman said.
Getting comfortable with recommending marijuana can be a long process, said Dr. Bernie Lee, associate chief medical officer at MJHS, the state's largest hospice and palliative-care organization. Lee started seeing eligible patients last week.
"If physicians knew they had a subject-matter expert they could call on, that would give them a much better comfort zone," he said, adding that doctors frequently call on each other for advice on prescribing new medications.
But in the case of cannabis, the experts typically are not doctors. Lee said he has gone to several conferences and consulted with nonclinicians in the field to supplement the New York state's mandatory four-hour online course.
There are other accredited continuing-medical-education classes on cannabis physicians can take in addition to the state course, but they can be expensive. A class that will offer an in-person training for physicians in Queens in late February was charging $800 for a six-hour session.
Patients like Romano, who advocated for medical marijuana legalization, are getting impatient and frustrated with having to wait to get certified.
"As a patient, I fought for medical cannabis so I could enter a healing state with it," she said. "I want pharmaceutical-grade cannabis, and a doctor who has learned about it and can guide me."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Patients Say They Can't Find A Medical-Marijuana Doc In New York
Author: Caroline Lewis
Contact: Crain's
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Website: Crain's
