Patients in emergency departments with cannabis-induced psychosis, consults lasting less than a minute and doctors who have issued more than 10,000 scripts in six months are among the cases that have prompted Australia’s alarmed healthcare watchdog to announce clearer guidelines for the booming medicinal cannabis industry.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) on Wednesday released guidance for doctors prescribing medicinal cannabis products amid what it described as poor prescribing practice and surging patient demand.
Concerns about the way some doctors are prescribing medicinal cannabis have prompted AHPRA to announce new guidelines.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
The watchdog has been alarmed by the emergence of “vertically integrated” telehealth clinics which both prescribe and dispense cannabis products and account for the vast majority of an estimated $500 million worth of sales each year.
Chief executive Justin Untersteiner said the regulator would crack down on some practitioners with high rates of prescribing, including eight people who had issued more than 10,000 scripts in six months, and one who has prescribed cannabis products more than 17,000 times.
“Some business models that have emerged in this area rely on prescribing a single product or class of drug and use online questionnaires that coach patients to say ‘the right thing’ to justify prescribing medicinal cannabis,” Untersteiner said. “This raises the very real concern that some practitioners may be putting profits over patient safety.”
This masthead last year uncovered revelations one GP wrote an average of one script every five minutes, while others at major telehealth player Montu saw an average of eight patients an hour.
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In Australia, GPs and qualified nurse practitioners can prescribe medicinal cannabis under a special access scheme set up after cannabis was legalised for medical use in 2016.
Under the guidelines, GPs and nurses must only prescribe cannabis products after they have identified a therapeutic need, conducted a thorough assessment of their medical history and other medicines, and developed an exit strategy from the beginning.
