Pharmacy Daily | Call for med cannabis action

THE Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for "robust regulation" of the medicinal cannabis industry, saying it is needed to tackle the "highly concerning" and rapid increase in medicinal cannabis prescribing.

The call comes after revelations about egregious practices around prescribing and dispensing medicinal cannabis products on Monday's ABC 7:30 Report.

This included data from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), which found that eight medical practitioners had issued more than 10,000 scripts for the highest-strength THC products in six months, with one doctor apparently issuing more than one script every four minutes in a working day.

There was also a pharmacist who dispensed 959,000 cannabis products in one year, and a nurse practitioner who appeared to have issued 31,000 scripts over a year.

In a submission to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the AMA noted its members had been appalled by the behaviour of some medicinal cannabis entities, most notably in the dispensing of medicinal cannabis.

AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said the AMA supported proposed changes that would make it easier for regulators to address the industry's exploitation of the Special Access Scheme (SAS) and Authorised Prescriber Scheme (APS).

"These schemes are very necessary and allow doctors to provide access to certain specialised unapproved therapeutic goods to patients who are very ill, but they have been exploited by the medicinal cannabis industry," Dr McMullen said.

After alluding to examples of apparently excessive prescribing by a small number of health professionals, Dr McMullen pointed out the TGA "has no role in regulating health professional behaviour and this must not change".

"But it's reasonable to expect that a practitioner applying to provide patients with access to unapproved therapeutic goods would be subject to appropriate scrutiny, and that the TGA can share that information with the appropriate regulator when there is genuine concern about their behaviour."

She also highlighted frustrations with the amount of time and effort the TGA, AMA and others spend trying to ensure a minimum safety and quality framework for medicinal cannabis, "because the industry refuses to engage with established regulatory processes".

"Medicinal cannabis clinics continue to flagrantly breach the TGA's guidelines and AMA members are increasingly reporting serious adverse outcomes for patients," she said.

The AMA has also called for the removal of products with a THC content greater than 98% while a review is conducted, saying there is "no reasonable justification" for such a high percentage of THC. KB