CANNABIS PRACTICE
Four doctors in Colorado are suing the state after facing disciplinary action for allegedly over-prescribing the number of cannabis plants that each of their patients could legally grow. According to The Denver Post, the four medical cannabis doctors were suspended by Colorado’s Medical Board. It was alleged that the doctors recommended at least 75 and in one case up to 501 cannabis plants per patient to more than 1,500 patients.
This large number of plants per patient is compared to the standard plant recommendation of only six for medical cannabis patients. However, doctors do have the authority to prescribe more plants when they believe there is a medical need to do so.
Although a larger amount of cannabis is required to make edibles and concentrates, the Medical Board feared recommending such large amounts of plants for one patient could encourage black market sales and huge grow operations, especially when patients are able to transfer their allotted plant count to a legitimate caretaker.
This is the first time the Medical Board has taken disciplinary action on multiple medical cannabis doctors at one time. Their suspension was temporarily blocked by Judge Ross Buchanan of Denver, however the doctors are still prohibited from giving out any more recommendations for medical cannabis until the conclusion of their cases.
“This is the first time the Medical Board has taken disciplinary action on multiple medical cannabis doctors at one time.”
The doctors were suspended without prior notice, and at the same time of their scrutiny and suspension, the Medical Board asked for each doctor’s medical records to confirm their allegations. Judge Buchanan posed this question, “If they’re the first physicians, and they literally find out the morning they’re told to stop practicing, that isn’t fair, is it?”
According to The Denver Post, the four doctors claim that the Colorado Medical Board made an unwritten rule about the number of recommended plants that a doctor should recommend, and they arbitrarily chose 75. Courthouse News Service reported that the doctors say the rule is in violation of Colorado’s Open Meetings law, the state’s medical cannabis law, the Colorado Constitution, free speech clauses of the United States and Colorado, among others. Furthermore, the doctors’ legal team said, “The rule identified in the suspension order had never been noticed to the public or the plaintiffs.”
The Medical Board’s attorney, Russell Klein, responded to these claims by sharing that the board had the authority “to determine whether certain actions by physicians meet the standard of care.”
The names of the four doctors are Dr. Gentry Dunlop, Dr. Robert Maiocco, Dr. Deborah Parr and Dr. William Stone. The doctors may continue by proceeding forward with their lawsuit against Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or they can request a hearing before the board. The physicians would like to see the unwritten 75-plant policy voided, and they would like to get their licenses back.
