Highlights from the 9/27/2022 Medical Marijuana Advisory Board Meeting
Here is an overview from this morning's PA MMJ Advisory Board meeting. It is not all-encompassing, but the main points are represented.
-A new Director for the Office of Medical Marijuana (to replace John Collins) has been selected - her name is Laura Mentch; she is a pharmacist by trade. She has both clinical and leadership experience, and also has experience working as a dispensary pharmacist.
Regulation update - the final form regulations for the program have been submitted to IRRC (Independent Regulatory Review Commission) for review at its Oct 20th meeting. The IRRC will consider the regulation package in its totality and the board hopes it will be approved. The regulations can be found on IRRC's website: http://www.irrc.state.pa.us/regulations/RegSrchRslts.cfm...
Program updates:
-The program continues to grow in terms of number of patients and physicians, but at a slower rate than previous years.
-Both wholesale and retail prices continue to trend downwards.
-Wholesale prices (price/gram) are coming down faster than retail prices.
Miscellaneous:
-Dr Kambic stated that he has been getting complaints about lack of pharmacists available for consultation at dispensaries.
-Christine Roussel (Regulatory Review Subcommittee chair) requested that when adverse events be reported that the causative factors be investigated. She also requested that that information be aggregated and presented in a de-identified manner to the board.
-The Contact form on the PA DOH website was discussed. (https://forms.health.pa.gov/health-contact-us/) It was proposed that submissions be triaged by category and divided amongst the subcommittees for response. The legal team will be conferred with to make sure that there is no legal issue surrounding privacy before a decision is made on how to respond to these public comments.
Subcommittee updates:
Regulatory Review subcommittee- met in August, no updates. Will be reviewing bylaws of the Advisory board for presentation at next meeting.
Medical Review subcommittee - no serious medical conditions applications were received since last board meeting.
Medical Research subcommittee - met twice and discussed the remediation proposal that was presented at last meeting. (can be reviewed here: https://www.health.pa.gov/.../MMAB%20Powerpoint%20for...) The subcommittee requested follow-up information and a full copy of the research manuscript (only an abstract was previously submitted to the subcommittee). The subcommittee also looked at remediation standards in other states, paying attention to acceptable CFU (colony-forming units) cut-offs. They believe there is a role for remediation, but more information is needed to be provided before a determination can be made.
Patient and Caregiver subcommittee – requested an update on Phase 3 of the MMAP. Deputy Secretary Peter Blank stated that the program staff has been engaging with dispensaries, specifically working on the logistics/technology that needs to be put in place before Phase 3 can begin. He stated that more information will be available later this Fall and hopes to provide a more solid answer at the next Advisory Board meeting. He also noted that the program needs to make sure that the funding structure provided-for in the language of Act 16 will cover all eligible patients.
Next board meeting is November 22, 2022 10am, will resume in-person meetings.
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Thank you for reading,
Dr Jen Minkovich - MMJ Advocate Doc