One Call Care Management Expert Kevin Glennon Speaks on Continued Controversy over Medical Marijuana in Workers’ Compensation
More States Push for Legalization of Medical Marijuana in 2016 Election;
Federal Legislation to Reclassify Marijuana Still Pending
Glennon first addressed clinical aspects of the controversy: “Under the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) of 1970, marijuana is illegal at the federal level. However, more and more states are legalizing it for various medical purposes. Chief among them is the treatment of chronic pain, especially when patients have been unresponsive to other therapies,” Glennon noted. “With the high rate of addiction to opioid painkillers, medical marijuana is viewed as a possible alternative. However, reclassification of marijuana under the CSA is required before large-scale clinical studies can confirm its therapeutic benefits.”
Amidst contradictory directives, many WC payers are choosing to categorically deny coverage of medical marijuana. Payers are well within legal and medical parameters to do so, especially since medical marijuana is not currently included in any WC treatment guidelines—such as the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) and the
“Come this November, more states have ballot measures to legalize medical marijuana,” added Glennon. “There is also pending legislation at the federal level; the CARERS Act proposed by Senators Paul, Booker and Gillibrand could reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule II substance, making it legal for medical use and opening up broader opportunities for clinical trials.”
The CARERS (Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States) Act is currently stalled in the
Changes to Federal and state laws, new case law, and clinical findings on the efficacy of medical marijuana will continue to shape this debate. Risk management professions should continue to monitor these factors, as they will have ongoing ramifications for the industry and could forecast potential reclassification in the future. One
About One Call Care Management
One Call is the nation’s leading provider of specialized solutions to the workers’ compensation industry. One Call’s solutions enable faster, more efficient and more cost-effective claims resolution with a focus on injured workers’ needs across the continuum of care. One Call provides reliable, consistent connections to care with expertise in high end diagnostics, physical therapy and transportation services, post-discharge home care and durable medical equipment, dental and doctor specialty services, complex care management, and the language services required for today’s multicultural workforce. For more information, visit www.onecallcm.com.
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Source: One Call Care Management
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