Professional associations welcome G-BA decision on the prescription of medicinal cannabis
Berlin, 06/24/2024 | In its decision last Thursday, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) determined that medical prescriptions of medical cannabis for many relevant specialist groups should no longer be subject to approval by the health insurance fund in future. A total of 16 specialist and specialty designations as well as five additional designations, including general medicine, internal medicine, neurology, psychiatry, sleep medicine and special pain medicine, are included in this regulation. The Alliance of Cannabis Specialist Associations expressly welcomes this development: “The G-BA’s decision paves the way for a more efficient use of resources for medical cannabis treatment, but above all it represents an enormous step towards better, less complicated patient care with significantly reduced administrative effort. Various information formats and prescription aids are now being developed within the associations. This should help to raise awareness of the fact that cannabis prescriptions will be much less bureaucratic in many cases in the future and to dispel existing reservations about treatment with medicinal cannabis in the long term.
Despite the elimination of the obligation to submit an application to the health insurance fund, the specialist groups considered still have the option of applying to the health insurance fund for approval of cost coverage in the event of uncertainties in the prescription. The G-BA does not intend to restrict the removal of the reservation to certain indications. Unless the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) raises any legal objections within two months, the decision will come into force upon publication in the Federal Gazette.
Comprehensive range of information to increase willingness to prescribe
The G-BA will monitor the effects of the removal of the approval requirement on the reality of supply over the next 15 months. The alliance of cannabis associations hopes that this decision will lead to a more active discussion of the treatment option of medicinal cannabis, including among doctors who were previously critical of the very complex and bureaucratic prescription with reimbursement option. The aim is to provide patients with nationwide access to medically supervised cannabis therapy: In the past, the reservations of many practitioners about medical cannabis were also associated with the time-consuming application process to the health insurance company. Now, the decision-making authority largely lies exclusively with doctors. The Alliance considers this to be the right development in the interests of patients. Basic requirements such as the presence of a serious illness and other conditions set out in SGB V for a cannabis prescription continue to apply.
Further information, an overview of the relevant specialist groups and additional designations as well as the entire text of the resolution can be found here.
Contact persons for the press:
Dr. Armin Prasch
Medical Cannabis Department Coordinator of the German Cannabis Business Association e.V. (BvCW)
Phone: 01522 8815993
E-Mail: ap@cannabiswirtschaft.de
Antje Feißt
Policy Working Group of the Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Companies (BPC)
Phone: 0176 569 156 44
E-Mail: feisst@bpc-deutschland.de
About the associations:
Working Group Cannabis as Medicine e.V. (ACM)
Contact: Dr. med. Franjo Grotenhermen & Prof. Dr. med. Kirsten Müller-Vahl
Phone: 05233 953 72 46
Webseite: https://www.arbeitsgemeinschaft-cannabis-medizin.de
E-Mail: info@arbeitsgemeinschaft-cannabis-medizin.de
The Working Group Cannabis as Medicine e.V. (ACM) was founded in Cologne in 1997. It brings together doctors, pharmacists, patients, lawyers and other interested parties from Germany and Switzerland. Over the past 25 years, the ACM has played a key role in improving the medical use of cannabis and cannabinoids in Germany. For example, a constitutional complaint initiated by the ACM and subsequent test cases before the administrative courts paved the way for exceptional permits for the use of cannabis from pharmacies in 2007 and finally for the law passed in 2017.
Association of German Cannabis Patients (BDCan)
Contact: Daniela Joachim, Chairwoman of the Board
Phone: 0208 2079 2861
Website: https://bdcan.de
E-Mail: daniela.joachim@bdcan.de
As a non-profit association, the Bund Deutscher Cannabis-Patienten e.V. (BDCan) is committed to ensuring that patients are provided with high-quality cannabis medicines in various dosage forms nationwide by local pharmacies and at the expense of statutory health insurance companies if cannabinoid therapy is indicated, through direct exchange with politicians, doctors, pharmacists, health insurance companies, MDK and the industry. We also offer our members support in setting up self-help groups and provide advice in these groups and via our hotline and email on all questions relating to treatment with medicinal cannabis.
German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW)
Contact & V.i.S.d.P.: Jürgen Neumeyer, Managing Director
Phone: 0163 9860 888
Technical contact: Dr. Armin Prasch, Departmental Coordinator Medical Cannabis
Website: https://cannabiswirtschaft.de
E-Mail: ap@cannabiswirtschaft.de
The BvCW is the voice of the cannabis industry in Germany and represents all industry segments and company sizes vis-à-vis politics and administration. Our specialist areas are divided into “recreational cannabis regulation”, “industrial hemp”, “medicinal cannabis” and “technology, trade & services”. We bundle industrial policy, technological, scientific and economic expertise and advocate for better political framework conditions.
Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Companies (BPC)
Contact: Antje Feißt
Policy Working Group of the Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Companies (BPC)
Phone: 0176 569 156 44
Website: https://bpc-deutschland.de
E-Mail: feisst@bpc-deutschland.de
The Federal Association of Pharmaceutical Cannabinoid Companies (BPC) guarantees patients the best possible supply of quality-assured medical cannabis in Germany. The association promotes the sustainable further development of cannabinoid therapies and thus strengthens the position of the pharmaceutical cannabinoid industry in Germany and on the international market.
The aim of the BPC is to ensure the supply of quality-assured medical cannabis to patients. The BPC pools the expertise of its members and is a key advocate for ideal cultivation and supply structures for medicinal cannabis. This unique combination enables the BPC to represent the interests of the German cannabinoid industry in the best possible way and to position itself clearly vis-à-vis decision-makers.
German Medical Cannabis Society e.V. (DMCG)
Contact: Dr. med. Dipl.-Chem. Konrad F. Cimander, Chairman DMCG e.V.
Phone: 0162 2305216
Website: www.medi-can.de
E-Mail: dmcg@medi-can.de
With our visionary guiding principle “Medical cannabis – health grows!”, the German Medical Cannabis Society e.V. (DMCG) forms a platform for doctors and associated professional groups to work together on the topic of cannabis in medicine. Founded in September 2020, the still young professional society pursues the purpose of promoting and supporting scientific and practical work to research the mode of action and fields of application of cannabis-containing medicines for the prevention, treatment and aftercare of diseases, disease-like impairments or conditions as well as their holistic use in patients in the public health system. The DMCG is the patron of the annual Medicinal Cannabis Congress in Berlin.
Interdisciplinary Working Group of Brandenburger Pain Therapists and Palliative Care Physicians e.V. (IABSP)
Contact: Dr. med. Christoph Wendelmuth & Dr. med. Knud Gastmeier
Phone: 0331 743070
Website: https://www.iabsp.de
E-Mail: info@iabsp.de
The IABSP working group was founded in Kleinmachnow in 1993. It brings together doctors and psychotherapists from Brandenburg who are concerned with the regional problems associated with pain and palliative medicine and are looking for constructive solutions. The IABSP has been instrumental in improving the medical use of cannabis and cannabinoids in Brandenburg in various ways since 2000.
Patient Association Self-Help Network Cannabis Medicine (SCM)
Contact: Gero Kohlhaas & Maximilian Plenert
Phone: 0176 – 722 99 530
Website: https://selbsthilfenetzwerk-cannabis-medizin.de
E-Mail: gero.kohlhaas@selbsthilfenetzwerk-cannabis-medizin.de & maximilian.plenert@selbsthilfenetzwerk-cannabis-medizin.de
The Self-Help Network Cannabis as Medicine (SCM) is the largest and oldest association of cannabis patients in Germany. It is a network of affected people who give each other advice and support on important topics and run local self-help groups. The SCM offers support to patients and relatives seeking advice through digital contact points and local contact options. In formats such as the monthly online regulars’ table, patients can exchange ideas and organize with each other. The SCM’s maxim is to promote the exchange of information between patients, according to the motto “Patients first”. It was only through mutual support that patients were able to achieve important milestones in care, such as the first approval of applications for home cultivation and the subsequent “Cannabis as Medicine Act”. Those seeking advice and interested parties are cordially invited to contact us using the details provided.
Association of Cannabis Supplying Pharmacies (VCA)
Contact: Dr. Christiane Neubaur, Managing Director
Phone: 0208 9912 99 21
Website: https://vca-deutschland.de
E-Mail: info@vca-deutschland.de
The declared aim of the VCA is to ensure an efficient and affordable supply of medicinal cannabis to patients in Germany. The association clearly sees this duty of care as lying with the pharmaceutical experts in pharmacies. According to Section 1 of the Pharmacy Act, pharmacies are responsible for ensuring the proper supply of medicines to the population in the public interest. This is the point of contact for patients before, during and after receiving a doctor’s prescription.
Pharmaceutical specialists can provide optimal advice and therapeutic support.