In late July, during a joint conference of Poland’s Ministry of Health (MZ) and the Supreme Chamber of Physicians on planned changes to the Polish health care system, the Minister of Health announced changes to prescriptions for medical cannabis during online consultation.
According to the MZ’s plans, only a primary care physician (PCP) will be able to issue a prescriptions for medical cannabis (as well as for morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone) during an online consultation. According to the MZ, a PCP will only be able to issue a prescription in this manner if:
- the prescription is for continuation of treatment;
- the prescription is for up to three months;
- the patient confirms his/her identity during the teleportation.
As a result, filling out an online questionnaire, as is currently the case, will no longer be sufficient. In addition, in cases other than those listed above, a specialist doctor and a PCP will only be able to issue a prescription for medical cannabis after first examining the patient in person.
The regulation implementing the above changes is expected to be published in the fall. At present, neither the exact date nor the content of the regulation is known – a draft regulation has not been made public.
The planned changes, however, are now being discussed with the medical community, which is expressing criticism that the proposed solutions are too rigorous. Hence, there is no certainty that the changes under discussion will come into force in their planned form.
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