Struggle continues to get cost of medical marijuana covered

By Faiza Amin

The dangers of opioids have been front and centre, as our country and province deal with a growing crisis.

However, there are many who depend on these painkillers for medical purposes, including one Toronto woman.

Natalie Morin has been taking opioids for the last 17 years but when she tried to part ways with the pills in favour of medical marijuana, she was told the cost would be substantially higher.

“I don’t want to struggle with an addiction. That’s always been my greatest fear,” she explained. “When I finally took the step to go on morphine, I feel like a failure.”

The 35-year-old said the prescribed pills she’s been taking haven’t been able to manage the pain she suffered from two car accidents in 2001 and 2002. Currently she lives with herniated discs, nerve damage, torn ligaments and whiplash. Some days, Morin said she can’t get out of bed without the help of her 10-year-old son.

Knowing she wanted to taper off the pills, her doctor prescribed her medical marijuana.

While the provincial drug plan covered her opioids, the monthly cost for her pot prescription would be over $200. It’s an unfathomable price for the mother of two, who said she hasn’t worked for over a year due to her pain.

Morin just recently found a local pharmacy that will deduct 20 per cent off the price for her medical marijuana prescription, as part of a compassionate discount.

However, she still doesn’t believe it will be financially sustainable for her in the long run, and she’s waiting for the day when her bill is covered in full.

“If doctors are prescribing, then it is medication, and medication should be covered,” Morin said.

Dr. Bernard Le Foll, the medical head of addiction services at CAMH, said prescribing medical cannabis is uncommon because there still is a lack of data and studies done on medical benefits of the drug.

“It’s still not used so broadly because not so many patients are comfortable, and not so many healthcare providers are trained or comfortable doing it,” he said.

Health Canada told CityNews the drug isn’t covered since it has yet to be authorized as a therapeutic product in the country. The Ontario government needs to wait for that approval before considering coverage.

Approximately 12 universities across the country are currently in different phases of research on medical cannabis to be used by health professionals.

“There are no such plans currently, with regards to medicinal marijuana, to look (at) adding it to the formula (provincial coverage),” Health Minister Eric Hoskins told CityNews.

However, Dr. Le Foll said there is already more evidence that cannabis can be helpful for pain control, and there have been successful cases of patients transitioning from opioids to medical pot.

“We know for sure the risk of overdose deaths is almost non-existent with cannabis, where it’s huge with opioids,” he explained. “There is a potential benefit to that, but that needs to be studied and controlled in trials.”

Health Canada, the Ministry and the College of Physicians and Surgeons said they don’t keep track of how many medical marijuana prescriptions have been given out.

Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana (CFAMM) has been lobbying the Ontario government to eliminate fees patients are being charged for cannabis. The belief is that it should be available for medical coverage the same way as other prescribed medications.

“The affordability of medical cannabis is one of the most urgent issues facing users. Over 50 per cent of patients are choosing to use less quantities of cannabis because of financial considerations,” Jonathan Zaid, founder and executive of CFAMM, explained.

Zaid said he knows firsthand the struggles of getting medical marijuana coverage. At the age of 18, he spent months facing off against his university to get his prescription paid for.

“In the end of the eight months, they decided it was suitable for coverage and did support me academically and socially, and did allow me to live a better quality of life so they decided to cover it,” the 24-year-old said.

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