In this Nov. 5, 2014, file photo, Shane McKee, co-founder of
Shango Premium Cannabis medical marijuana dispensary, pulls a sample
from their display of cannabis flowers in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Don
Ryan, File) — AP
Ted had a drifting eye, bad headaches and one leg — then his life got tough.
Phil Luciano
At the core of a twisting story we’ll try to unravel below, he got an early start on state-sanctioned medical marijuana. But his self-prescribed pot — which he says had the verbal blessing of a family physician — cost him the prescription drugs that ease the discomfort from an amputation.
No one is asking you to feel sorry for Ted.
But he wants to offer a cautionary tale.
I’m not sure how many people fit into the same drifting-eye, one-legged, weed-smoking demographic. Then again, there’s a peculiar part of this story — we’ll get to that at the end — that might affect a lot more people than Ted.
Actually, Ted isn’t his real name, which he doesn’t want in the newspaper, what with his marijuana use and all. But Ted is in his mid-40s and lives near Peoria with his wife.
Several years back, his motorcycle got slammed by a car. The driver got a couple of tickets. Ted got an amputation. Doctors cut off a mangled leg below the knee.
Eventually, Ted was fitted with a leg prosthesis. But that didn’t stop leg and back pain lingering from the wreck. For the past two years, his family physician prescribed oxycodone, a powerful narcotic. The drug didn’t stop the pain but made it bearable on tough days, Ted says.
Meanwhile, another problem arose. The wreck also left Ted with nerve damage in one eye, causing the pupil to wander. That nerve damage triggered migraine headaches, he says. Because of that problem, he has been following developments about medical marijuana in Illinois.
According to the website for the Illinois Medical Cannabis Pilot Program (http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/mcpp/Pages/default.aspx), almost 21,000 visitors have logged on to the online patient registry with the Illinois Department of Public Health. Of those, about 3,000 have submitted an application, a rigorous process that involves fingerprinting and a physician’s prescription. So far, the state has issued 2,300 approval letters to registered qualifying patients. After delays, dispensaries are supposed to be in operation later this year.
Ted has discussed medical marijuana with his family physician, who shied away from writing a pot prescription. Though Ted says no clear reason was given, migraines are not yet among conditions that allow a medical-marijuana prescription.
Earlier this month, an advisory board suggested 11 more medical conditions — including migraines — be added to the 33 already legally acceptable. However, the state has yet to approve those additions.
Ted decided not to wait. He started using marijuana for his migraines. The pain ebbed, he says.
He reported this news to his family physician. The reply, according to Ted: “I don’t agree with that, but if it helps, go ahead.”
Recently, though, that doctor went on medical leave. A few weeks ago, when Ted went to get a new oxycodone prescription, another doctor was filling in for his usual physician. Instead of a new prescription, he got a drug test.
See, two years back, Ted signed a pain-management contract when he began taking oxycodone. These are standard agreements, designed to protect the patient. Patients pledge to not get similar prescriptions elsewhere, and allow a doctor to check secured medical websites to make sure the patient doesn’t doctor shop.
Like Ted’s, many of these contracts forbid the use of illegal drugs. And the contracts allow random drug tests, one of which Ted was instructed to do when he appeared before the substitute doctor.
“I knew my pee drop was going to be dirty,” Ted says.
Indeed, the test showed cannabis use. Ted mentioned he’d been given verbal pot approval from the other doctor. Still, Ted was told to hit the road: no more oxycodone.
Granted, multiple-drug experimentation is unwise among amateurs. That’s something you’d probably want to leave to a medical professional, thus the pain-management contract.
Even so, medical marijuana might see an additional difficulty in Illinois, already deemed the most regulated of medical-marijuana states. I learned this after seeking background medical information from Shelli Dankoff, spokeswoman for OSF Saint Francis Medical Center. We were talking about pain-management contracts when she noted the typical prohibition against illegal drugs.
“Marijuana is still illegal according to the FDA,” she said. “States might call it legal, but the federal government still says it’s illegal.”
Thus, some doctors might balk at writing such prescriptions, while some might find cannabis an appropriate addition to a pain-management regimen. Yet others might look at the contract language, note the FDA ban and say, “Nope. No pot for you.”
“That’s up to the individual doctor,” Dankoff says.
Tricky stuff. I’m not sure why medical marijuana seems easier in other states. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see doctors here advertise their (ahem) flexibility regarding these contracts, maybe with a pot leaf behind a thumbs-up sign.
No comments:
Post a Comment