You Probably Won’t Be Able To Access Medical Cannabis In Malta If You’ve Got Chronic Pain
Though the first batch of medical cannabis is in Malta and a legal framework is officially in place, Maltese patients have yet to receive any medicine at all with endless obstacles seemingly popping up at every junction.
Now, one Maltese doctor who is a pain expert has discovered yet another obstacle: one of the conditions believed to be eligible to be treated by medical cannabis, chronic pain, is no longer eligible on its own.
“I’ve sent 40 medical cannabis applications, two for each of my 20 patients, and most of them have been rejected,” said Dr. Andrew Agius of the Pain Clinic. “Since most of my patients have chronic pain, and that is what I specialise in, I wrote “chronic pain” as the reason for seeking medical cannabis on most of my patients’ applications.”
Chronic pain by itself is not an eligible reason to be prescribed medical cannabis according to the Maltese government
Dr Agius’ applications were met with rejections, alongside instructions that the doctor needed to be clearer on the exact dose needed for each patient, as well as being told “we need more information about the exact condition”.
Along with Maltese health advocacy group Chronic Pain Malta, the rejections left Dr. Agius feeling frustrated.
“Chronic pain is a recognised medical condition in its own right in the ICD-10 manual,” he said. “It is not the symptom of another condition, it’s a condition in its own right.”
“Yet,” he continues, “the authorities are asking for more information about the underlying cause when in many cases the cause can be traumatic, such as when they lose a family member or when they are exposed to a toxic relationship. In my opinion, telling authorities exactly what happened in the patient’s past personal life is not necessary here – what’s essential to know is that they have chronic pain and it can be treated by medical cannabis.”
Dr Agius is ready to reapply for his 20 patients if there is a chance that they’ll be able to access their medical cannabis easily and in a reasonable manner.
A medical marijuana dispensary in California
Dr Charmaine Gauci, the Superintendent of Health, had previously talked about the eligible conditions for medical cannabis: “These medicines are mostly used in chronic disease conditions to alleviate pain caused by them. It may be used in situations of heavy spastic disease, such as multiple sclerosis, to reduce symptoms of nausea and vomiting for those administered with chemotherapy.”
The doctor’s remarks come as pharmaceutical companies attempting to import medical cannabis find it harder and harder to do so. Maltese pharmaceutical importers that joined the party late are finding they are being asked to provide more documents than their earlier competition, and their applications are taking much longer than expected to process.
Similarly, doctors were urged soon after legalisation not to prescribe medical cannabis, with the authorities doing little to educate curious family doctors to the potential benefits of medical cannabis.
What do you think of this development?
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