Photo Courtesy of Earth Med
The other 10 qualifying conditions are: cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, and Huntington’s disease.
By Forum Staff
Chronic pain will be added as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, the State Department of Health recently announced.
The agency indicated that it will develop a proposed regulatory amendment, which will include language specifying the chronic pain conditions that would qualify for medical marijuana. The proposed regulatory amendment will be published for public comment shortly.
“After conducting a thorough review of the scientific literature, it became clear that there may be certain benefits in the use of medical marijuana by patients suffering from chronic pain,” said Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, M.D. “Medical marijuana is already helping thousands of patients across New York State, and adding chronic pain as a qualifying condition will help more patients and further strengthen the program.”
The other 10 qualifying conditions are cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, and Huntington’s disease.
“Today’s announcement is welcome news for New Yorkers suffering from chronic pain,” said Ari Hoffnung, CEO of Vireo Health of New York, which owns and operates a dispensary near Queens Center Mall. “Patients struggling with pain deserve more treatment options and it is our hope that medical marijuana will help address one of the biggest public health challenges facing our State – the opioid crisis.”
Regulatory amendments filed by DOH to authorize nurse practitioners to certify patients for medical marijuana took effect last Wednesday, when the notice of adoption was published in the State Register. In order to register with the department, nurse practitioners must take the DOH-approved Medical Use of Marijuana course online and submit their certificate of course completions to DOH using the instructions provided on its Medical Marijuana Program Practitioner Information page: health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/practitioner/.
“We applaud the Department of Health’s decision and are ready to serve patients with chronic pain,” said Dr. Stephen Dahmer, Chief Medical Officer of Vireo Health. “We will continue to advocate for measures that improve patient access to dependable and safe medical cannabis and improve the quality of life for New Yorkers suffering from life-threatening and debilitating diseases.”
Additionally, the department announced, a proposed rulemaking was published last Wednesday that would enable physician assistants to register with DOH to certify patients for medical marijuana, as long as their supervising physician is also registered to certify patients. This proposed rulemaking will be subject to a 45-day public comment period and would not take effect until it is filed for adoption after the public comment period, the department noted.
The Health Department launched the Empire State’s Medical Marijuana Program on Jan. 7, roughly 18 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act. The program makes approved forms of medical marijuana, which has been shown to help alleviate pain and enhance the quality of life for individuals suffering from certain diseases, available with a physician’s certification at designated dispensaries across the state. As of Nov. 29, 750 physicians have registered for the program, and 10,730 patients have been certified by their doctors.
