Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

IDPH loses yet another medical marijuana court case

Posted in:

Illinois

A judge has ordered Illinois officials to add intractable pain as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, a ruling that could greatly expand access to the drug.

The Illinois Department of Public Health had rejected intractable pain — defined as pain that’s resistant to treatment — but Cook County Judge Raymond Mitchell ordered the agency to add the condition.

A health department spokeswoman said Tuesday the agency will appeal the ruling. The change is expected to be put on hold while the appeal is pursued. […]

Mednick had previously petitioned the state to put intractable pain on the marijuana treatment access list, and the now-defunct Illinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Board agreed it should be on the list, voting 10-0 to recommend adding the condition.

But the health department’s director, Dr. Nirav Shah, denied the recommendation in January 2016, citing a “lack of high-quality data” from clinical trials to establish that the benefits outweighed the risks.

* This isn’t the first time Director Shah has lost in court. He ought to give up…

* Judge Rules IBS Gets A Second Chance To Be Added To Approved List

* Illinois ordered to rethink medical marijuana for migraines

* Judge orders Illinois to authorize medical marijuana for PTSD

* Judge Orders Post-Operative Chronic Pain be Added to Medical Marijuana Program

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:42 pm

Comments

Intractable pain — defined as pain that’s resistant to treatment

Why wouldn’t you go with that one from the beginning?

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:44 pm
===Dr. Nirav Shah, denied the recommendation in January 2016, citing a “lack of high-quality data” from clinical trials to establish that the benefits outweighed the risks.===

Did he list the so-called “risks?” The typical way to manage pain is to get patients hooked on opioids. Perhaps Dr. Shah has seen some high quality research on the benefits vs. risks of opioid addiction?

Yo, JB, Chris, Daniel: this is the first guy to fire next year.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:47 pm
Meanwhile, in more successful states, like the entire West Coast….

Pot revenues bring loads of money, decreased crime, and increased home values.

Just remember, there’s nothing cool about being 27th to do something.

Comment by 33rd ward Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:48 pm
I think “not having a good time right now” should be added as a condition.

Comment by m Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:50 pm
What evidence exists that smoking pot alleviates pain?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/health/medical-marijuana-pain-ptsd-study/index.html

Comment by Saluki Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:51 pm
It’s evident Shah is taking orders from above. Combine this with the veterans home and failing to test babies for that fatal disease and he may be the worst agency head.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:51 pm
–But the health department’s director, Dr. Nirav Shah, denied the recommendation in January 2016, citing a “lack of high-quality data” from clinical trials to establish that the benefits outweighed the risks.–

What “risks” are those, doctor? I’m at a loss. Maybe you should let the public know in a timely manner.

This, from the guy who has been so “on it” at the Quincy vets home that Rauner appointed a task force nearly three years after the first deaths to figure out what the heck to do.

Stick your reefer madness, doctor, and do your real job.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:54 pm
Why is the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board defunct? Don’t they have an official responsibility?

Comment by Sugar Corn Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:55 pm
I don’t think there’s much high quality clinical data for any of it, since they’ve made the study of it nearly impossible.

Comment by NoGifts Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 3:57 pm
Answered — http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/August-2017/What-Happened-to-Illinoiss-Medical-Cannabis-Advisory-Board/

Comment by Sugar Corn Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:02 pm
Www.scholar.google.com
Enter cannabis pain…read to your hearts content Saluki. It has been used for pain management for 3000 years.

Comment by Al Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:05 pm
“A health department spokeswoman said Tuesday the agency will appeal the ruling.”

I figured they wouldn’t tell us about this development for at least six days.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:09 pm
…What evidence exists that smoking pot alleviates pain?…

Maybe because it does say the millions of people with PTSD, MS, seizures etc.

Comment by don the legend Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:16 pm
==“A health department spokeswoman said Tuesday the agency will appeal the ruling.”

I figured they wouldn’t tell us about this development for at least six days.==

I hope are burn units are better than our veterans homes.

Comment by Southern Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:26 pm
Saluki, you’re down in the Ohio River Valley, ground zero for both the opioid epidemic and meth abuse and you’re worried about med mar?

What’s really bothering you? It ain’t worries about substance abuse.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:27 pm
My bad ,name, I didn’t explain. I don’t have a problem with work requirement as long as there are jobs or programs. I would say the majority of folks are working anyway. The lazy poor is s total myth. Only about 3-5% are really poor examples of humanity. As far as waste fraud and abuse, our new system IES has made huge strides towards eliminating that. It can still happen but it’s rare now thAnks to the new system. Unfortunately it’s Terrible to work with. But anyway the big problem is that the work requirement for any program
Doubles the work
Poor folk change jobs and situations a lot
Job hours and pay would have to be added and recalculated constantly.
In our current depleted state
Impossible
We don’t have the caseworkers
Most poor folks are good people
I enjoy talking with and helping
Our communities good people
Every day
They are just poor and have a lot of barriers
To self sufficiency
Human Service Caseworkers
Help folks overcome those barriers
Every single day
Just minutes ago I got a womens TANF back on line. She’s working, doing everything we ask. She was responsible but has trouble making it with two kids. An 11 year old boy and 7yo girl. Our new system closed her case because it thought her work hours had not been verified. It had. She gave us her pay stubs. I corrected the system and issued her TANF. 208 dollars may not seem like a lot to you but for her that meant she could pay for heat.
It’s about helping her overcome barriers
She’ll be on her feet soon
I don’t have a doubt

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:29 pm
Doin’ a heckuva job, Niravy!

Comment by Illinoisian Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:32 pm
These IDPH court losses should be an anti-Rauner campaign commercial.

Shows Rauner is a loser? Check
Shows Rauner wastes taxpayer money? Check
Shows Rauner lacks compassion? Check
Shows Rauner is out of step with popular sentiment? Check
Shows Rauner is anti-science? Check

Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:50 pm
How nuts do you have to be to “appeal” this ruling? C’mon.
Do these people insist on being the very last to get it?
It’s not just nuts, it’s cruel. The big prize is overpaying for marijuana just to get some relief.

I’m guessing some (not a lot, but some) of the exodus in this state has to do with people who are too decent to break the law, moving to a place where a substantial real remedy to some intractable pain is available without committing a felony. This saddens me.

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 4:51 pm
Shah and Rauner continue to demand evidence of efficacy of medical cannabis and yet the IDPH has not collected ANY data from the thousands of patients in Illinois who have been using cannabis for over two years or requested the same from the dispensaries in the state. The about that - Illinois has a Pilot program and is engaged in a large scale health policy experiment, the Administration keeps demanding a study, but the Administration, with access to the data, does NOTHING to analyze the data. One would think a physician like Shah in the midst of an opioid epidemic would show some interest.

Comment by RJM Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 5:03 pm
Judge Francis young ruled in 1988 Cannabis was a medicine and should rescheduled. Studies have been done and reviewed a decision was rendered…30 years ago.

Comment by Al Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 5:07 pm
http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/23622-medical-marijuana-reduces-use-of-opioid-pain-meds-decreases-risk-for-some-with-chronic-pain

“Researchers from the U-M School of Public Health and Medical School said their results suggest that for some people, medical marijuana may be an alternative to more common prescription painkillers at a time when national health leaders are asking the medical community to cut back on prescribing drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin.”

I can do this all night Saluki…

Comment by frisbee Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 5:09 pm
–…medical marijuana may be an alternative to more common prescription painkillers at a time when national health leaders are asking the medical community to cut back on prescribing drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin.”–

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death of Americans under age 50. 64K in 2016. Not one of them from weed. Not then, not ever.

–If these numbers hold up (and final figures will come out later this year), it solidifies the opioid epidemic as America’s deadliest overdose crisis ever. In comparison, more than 58,000 US soldiers died in the entire Vietnam War, nearly 55,000 Americans died of car crashes at the peak of such deaths in 1972, more than 43,000 died due to HIV/AIDS during that epidemic’s peak in 1995, and nearly 40,000 died of guns during the peak of firearm deaths in 1993.–

And Rauner, and Shah, and Saluki are worried about med mar? What’s next, another task force?

I call bad faith. What’s your problem, really?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 6:11 pm
It will be legal in Illinois recreationally soon. Then any adult can use it for whatever reason they like. Which is the way it should be in a free society.

Comment by Illinois Resident Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 6:15 pm
Another judge playing politics. Pot is great to make people feel better temporarily and eat more. The attempts to make it a miracle drug are baseless

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 8:46 pm
—The attempts to make it a miracle drug are baseless—

Anonymous: Who cares if it is a miracle drug or not? Free people in a free society should be able to consume cannabis for any reason they want.

Comment by Illinois Resident Tuesday, Jan 16, 18 @ 11:13 pm
I honestly believe history books will say we were not a free society over this issue.

When the majority of people want something and the government refuses I don’t see how we can honestly say the people of our country have power.

Comment by Anon Wednesday, Jan 17, 18 @ 6:12 am
marijuana was removed fom the us pharmaceutical list in 1941

Comment by Rabid Wednesday, Jan 17, 18 @ 9:59 am
—I honestly believe history books will say we were not a free society over this issue.
When the majority of people want something and the government refuses I don’t see how we can honestly say the people of our country have power.—

Anon, I completely agree. For one, the creation of the CSA was unconstitutional. And it was formed by Nixon as a political mechanism to go after political opponents. Things are changing though as well they should.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jan 17, 18 @ 10:44 am