Pubdate: Sun, 11 May 2014
Source: Oneida Daily Dispatch (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.oneidadispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4546
Author: Tom Murphy, The Associated Press
Page: A5

INSURERS JUST SAY 'NO' TO MARIJUANA COVERAGE

(AP) - Patients who use medical marijuana for pain and other chronic 
symptoms are taking an unwanted hit: Insurers don't cover the 
treatment, which costs as much as $1,000 a month.

Once the drug of choice for hippies and rebellious teens, marijuana 
in recent years has gained more mainstream acceptance for its ability 
to boost appetite, dull pain and reduce seizures in everyone from 
epilepsy to cancer patients.

Still, insurers are reluctant to cover it, in part because of 
conflicting laws. While 21 U.S. states have passed laws approving it 
for medical use, the drug still is illegal federally and in most states.

But perhaps the biggest hurdle for insurers is the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration hasn't approved it. Major insurers generally don't 
cover treatments that are not approved by the FDA, and that approval 
depends on big clinical studies that measure safety, effectiveness 
and side effects.

That research can take years and millions of dollars. And while the 
FDA has approved treatments like Marinol that contain a synthetic 
version of an ingredient in marijuana, so far, no one has gained 
approval for a treatment that uses the whole plant.

As a result of the obstacles, advocates for medicinal marijuana say 
insurers likely won't cover the drug in the next few years. In the 
meantime, medical marijuana users - of which advocates estimate there 
are more than 1 million nationwide - have to find other ways to pay 
for their treatment.

Bill Britt, for instance, gets his supply for free from a friend whom 
he helps to grow the plants. Britt lives mostly on Social Security 
income and uses marijuana every day for epileptic seizures and leg 
pain from a childhood case of polio.

"I'm just lucky I have somebody who is helping me out, but that could 
go away at any time," said Britt, 55, who lives in Long Beach, 
California. "I am always worried about that."

Insurers have not seen enough evidence that marijuana is safe and 
more effective than other treatments, said Susan Pisano, a 
spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group.

Marijuana's Schedule I classification under the federal Controlled 
Substances Act makes it difficult to conduct clinical studies that 
might provide evidence. The classification means the drug is 
considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical 
use. And that means extra precautions are required in order to study it.

Researchers have to apply to the FDA to approve their study. Public 
Health Service, another arm of the Department of Health and Human 
Services, also may review it, a process that can take months.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has to issue a permit after 
making sure researchers have a secure place to store the drug. 
Researchers also have to explain the study plan to the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, another agency within Health and 
Human Services.

And researchers have to use marijuana supplied by NIDA, which 
contracts with the University of Mississippi to grow the only 
federally sanctioned source of the drug. That can limit the options 
for strains of marijuana researchers can study.

On top of that, researchers must find a place where the marijuana can 
be smoked or vaporized and scientists can monitor the patients 
afterward. That's no easy task, especially when dealing with public 
universities.

"The word 'marijuana' is just so politically radioactive," said Dr. 
Sue Sisley, a University of Arizona psychiatrist who is trying to 
study the drug as a possible treatment for military veterans with 
post-traumatic stress disorder.

The American Medical Association has called for a change in 
marijuana's classification to one that makes it easier for research 
to be conducted. The current classification prevents physicians from 
even prescribing it in states where medical use is permitted. 
Instead, they can only recommend it to patients.

There is no easy and cheap way to get the drug legally. Patients in 
states where medical marijuana is legal can either grow it or buy it 
from government-approved dispensaries.

At dispensaries, an eighth of an ounce, which produces three to seven 
joints, costs between $25 and $60, said Mike Liszewski, policy 
director for Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for safe and 
legal access to therapeutic cannabis. He noted that such an amount 
may not last long for patients who use the drug regularly to control 
pain or before every meal to help their appetites. Those patients 
might spend $1,000 a month or more.

Patients may get a price break from their dispensary if they have a 
low income, but that depends on the dispensary.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom