Cannabis on prescription: the number of applications rises

Since in the year 2017, Doctors are allowed to prescribe for their patients under certain circumstances Cannabis on a cash prescription. 68 percent of the applications submitted in the past three years, the health insurance company Barmer, have been approved, 32 percent were rejected. The current analysis of the health insurance Fund.

According to the Barmer-analysis, the number of applications for assumption of costs of Cannabis-containing medicines has increased in recent years. While it was from March up to and including December 2017 and 3.090 applications, in the following year, 5.238, and in the past year, 6.094 applications. While the approval rate in the 2017er-was the period at 65 percent, increased in the year 2018 at 72 percent, and last year went back to 67 percent. "Cannabis-applications to be rejected, for example, if you want to come in case of sickness images used for the other therapy alternatives have not checked yet wurden", Dr. Ursula Marschall, senior Physician at Barmer says.

Regional differences in the permits

As the Barmer-analysis, have been made in the past nearly three years, the majority of applications for assumption of costs of Cannabis-containing products in Bavaria, with 3.029, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (2.871) and Baden-Württemberg (1.310). "In Bavaria, there are also so many Cannabis regulations, because it was there since the mid-90s, a research focus at the University of Munich. Accordingly, the Doctors are experienced with the formulation of the Anträge", Marshal says. This is not the case everywhere, with the result that it come in some regions to lower approval rates. These ranged from 77.8 percent in Saxony-Anhalt up to 56.4 percent in Hesse. The lack of information and incorrect applications could be the reason.

Pharmacies are in short supply

Since March of 2017, Doctors almost 83.000 packs of Cannabis have been prescribed-containing products to the value of about 35.3 million euros. Including 20,000 packs were almost raw cannabis flowers. "The demand for cannabis flowers is so high that it can sometimes come a shortage of supply,” says Marshal. This is their use, however, is not unproblematic: Different formulations and finished products, they can have very different amounts of active Ingredient and are to be metered, therefore, difficult to. Here, above all, the medical specialist is asked to know the proper regulation, so that the flowers would be incorporated in a therapeutic overall concept. In addition, cannabis flowers are also more expensive than Cannabis-containing capsules, and Sprays.

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