Medical Cannabis Advisory Board recommends new debilitating condition
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), in conjunction with the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board (MCAB), hosted its third meeting Monday, May 13. The virtual board meeting that ran from 3-5 p.m. focused discussions on whether or not to include four more new qualifying debilitating conditions for medical cannabis patients in Illinois: Ovarian Cyst, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Uterine Fibroid, and Generalized Anxiety.
After taking anonymous preliminary votes to add two qualifying debilitating conditions, (Endometriosis and Female Organismic Disorder), during the March MCAB meeting, board members voted again, but this time, each board member’s vote was recorded for public “transparency goals.” Members again voted unanimously to include FOD as a qualifying debilitating condition for medical cannabis patients in Illinois. Board member then voted to include Endometriosis with all yes votes, except for one abstention vote by Gunar Subieta-Benito, MD, who specializes in Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, and Geriatric Medicine.
Chicago NORML Executive Director, Arianne Richards, then spoke as the only public commenter about the consideration for the new conditions, saying it was “imperative that these conditions be recognized as qualifying conditions” and emphasized “the importance of not categorizing these conditions solely under chronic pain.”
After robust discussions that included personal experiences and a suggestion to add the descriptor “Painful” in front of Ovarian Cyst for a second vote, board members voted on whether to recommend Ovarian Cyst and Painful Ovarian Cyst as qualifying debilitating conditions for medical cannabis patients. The board voted 8-3 to include Ovarian Cyst. When the condition name changed to Painful Ovarian Cyst, the vote increased to 10-1 with the lone no vote cast by Dr. Jane Nichols, an Associate Professor in the Rehabilitation Counseling and Administration Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
The discussion to consider Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome as a qualifying debilitating condition for medical cannabis patients became more robust and divided than any previously considered condition. Nichols stated, “I’m having trouble seeing this as a debilitating condition. We’re going to be putting this with other conditions that are indeed debilitating. I really see my role here as being a gatekeeper so that Illinois can be a leader in showing that every single thing that comes before the board is not approved . . .This is one that I can’t support.”
Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, the Owen L. Coon Foundation Chair of Integrative Medicine, noted the lack of medical research for this condition and stated, “I’m not ready as a physician to say, that’s good enough evidence for me . . . I suggest that as time and the literature increases, this is one I would ask the public, move this back to when we start to see more compelling articles, more evidence that it actually treats the condition itself . . . So I’m not in favor of this particular condition for those reasons.”
The board ultimately voted 5-4 in with two abstentions to not recommend Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome as a condition in Illinois. Votes for recommending the condition included Katie Sullivan, Joseph Friedman, Tiffany Reynolds, and Felicia Davis Fourté. Votes against recommending the condition included Mendoza Temple, Dr. Amarish Davé, Nichols, Subieta-Benito, and Dr. Sydney Ross-Davis. Jim Champion and Dr. Audrey Tanksley abstained, citing the need for further research.
The board did not have time left in the meeting to discuss recommending Uterine Fibroid and Generalized Anxiety, which were tabled until the next board meeting scheduled for June 10. However, if a Board Chair and Co-Chair are appointed beforehand, a board meeting may be scheduled earlier. To date, Endometriosis, Female Organismic Disorder, and Ovarian Cyst (or Painful Ovarian Cyst) were recommended as new conditions to the director for final approval, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome was not recommended for inclusion. For more Illinois cannabis industry news, visit here.
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