The United Kingdom’s National Health Service has only issued three prescriptions for medical cannabis oil since it was legalized for use with the national health care plan two years ago, according to End Our Pain – a pro-medical cannabis group. The group told the BBC that at least 20 families are paying out-of-pocket for the drug after they were turned down by the NHS.
In 2019, cannabis-derived pharmaceutical drugs Sativex and Epidyolex were approved for the NHS but neither are full-spectrum cannabinoid products and some say the latter doesn’t effectively control seizures like products that contain trace amounts of THC. One parent told the BBC that the medicine costs £2,000 ($2,582) per month.
The Department for Health and Social Care said Epidoylex could be prescribed on the NHS because there was clear “safety [and] clinical” evidence and it was cost-effective.
Read more at ganjapreneur.com
