Day: 03/24/2016

Federal Government Advises Doctors Against Testing Patients for Marijuana

http://www.hightimes.com/read/federal-government-advises-doctors-against-testing-patients-marijuana

As part of its plan to change the healthcare community’s cavalier attitude towards the distribution of dangerous prescription painkillers, the federal government has advised physicians across the United States to stop testing their patients for marijuana.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an updated set of guidelines for prescribing opioids to patients suffering from chronic pain. Buried inside the language of this attempt to put a leash on the prescription painkiller epidemic, the CDC urged doctors to modify their drug screening policies in an effort to prevent those testing positive for THC metabolites from being disqualified from treatment.

Although the agency wrote that it still believes urine testing is necessary to discover any “undisclosed use” of illicit substances, it specifically states that this rule no longer applies to THC…

Although passing a drug test is not usually a prerequisite for an initial prescription to painkillers, patients who end up passing through the corridor from the family doctor to a pain management clinic are often held to a higher standard in order to continue receiving these medications. Typically, these patients are required to test free of any illegal substances, including medical marijuana, before being allowed to participate and/or continue in a pain treatment plan.

However, the latest CDC guidelines suggest that this old philosophy leads to “stigmatization” and “inappropriate termination of care,” which inevitably creates additional hardships for those patients in need of these types of treatment programs…