Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
A hibbing couple's long wait for a treatment they hope will free their young daughter from numerous epileptic seizures has gotten three weeks longer.
"We are disappointed, but willing to wait," Angie Weaver wrote in an email on Tuesday.
Angie and Josh Weaver's 9-year-old child Amelia has Dravet syndrome. The seizures — now between 30 and 80 a day — have reversed her development, her parents said. They know medical marijuana has helped children with Dravet syndrome in Colorado, and they've been waiting more than a year for Wednesday, when the drug became legal in Minnesota.
They had a 2 p.m. appointment on Wednesday with LeafLine Labs, the medical marijuana producer that eventually will have a distribution center in Hibbing.
But they were called on Tuesday and told that the appointment would be delayed until the week of July 20th — specifically, for Amelia, on July 23rd.
LifeLine Labs confirmed that, saying in an email that it had notified five epilepsy patients that their medicine would not be ready this week.
"We determined that our medicinal formulation for epilepsy was not to our exacting standards for treating this condition," wrote Dr. Andrew Bachman, the company's chief medical officer. "We are now actively reformulating this medicine."
Other forms of medical marijuana were available, Bachman wrote.
The Weavers weren't switching to Minnesota Medical Solutions, the state's other medical marijuana company, because of LeafLine Labs' planned Hibbing center.
"Switching meds is never easy for Amelia, so we'd like to start with LeafLine," Angie Weaver wrote.
Meanwhile, a Duluth woman still is waiting for the medical marijuana she hopes will reduce the nausea she experiences from her treatment for a brain tumor — and possibly even shrink the tumor itself.
As of Wednesday, Jess Blake and her parents still were waiting to hear from her Essentia Health doctor, said her dad, Rick Blake. Under the Minnesota law, patients can obtain medical marijuana only after being certified as having one of nine qualifying conditions by a physician.
Rick Blake said the last he was told, Essentia still didn't have a policy in place for determining whether to certify patients.
"I'm not sure they understand how," he said, then added: "I do think they're moving forward."
Dr. Brian Konowalchuk, chairman of the health system's cannabis committee, said Essentia does have a policy in place.
"There has to be appropriate medical indications and has to be a treatment that's felt to be (appropriate)," Konowalchuk said.
He declined to say if any patients have been certified by Essentia Health doctors.
At St. Luke's hospital, chief medical officer Dr. Gary Peterson said four oncologists are in the process of applying to be eligible to certify patients.
Jess Blake is doing well, her father said, except for bouts of nausea. Within the past week, the nausea became so severe that she was treated in the emergency room.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Some still waiting for medical marijuana
Author: John Lundy
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: None Found
Website:Duluth News Tribune
"We are disappointed, but willing to wait," Angie Weaver wrote in an email on Tuesday.
Angie and Josh Weaver's 9-year-old child Amelia has Dravet syndrome. The seizures — now between 30 and 80 a day — have reversed her development, her parents said. They know medical marijuana has helped children with Dravet syndrome in Colorado, and they've been waiting more than a year for Wednesday, when the drug became legal in Minnesota.
They had a 2 p.m. appointment on Wednesday with LeafLine Labs, the medical marijuana producer that eventually will have a distribution center in Hibbing.
But they were called on Tuesday and told that the appointment would be delayed until the week of July 20th — specifically, for Amelia, on July 23rd.
LifeLine Labs confirmed that, saying in an email that it had notified five epilepsy patients that their medicine would not be ready this week.
"We determined that our medicinal formulation for epilepsy was not to our exacting standards for treating this condition," wrote Dr. Andrew Bachman, the company's chief medical officer. "We are now actively reformulating this medicine."
Other forms of medical marijuana were available, Bachman wrote.
The Weavers weren't switching to Minnesota Medical Solutions, the state's other medical marijuana company, because of LeafLine Labs' planned Hibbing center.
"Switching meds is never easy for Amelia, so we'd like to start with LeafLine," Angie Weaver wrote.
Meanwhile, a Duluth woman still is waiting for the medical marijuana she hopes will reduce the nausea she experiences from her treatment for a brain tumor — and possibly even shrink the tumor itself.
As of Wednesday, Jess Blake and her parents still were waiting to hear from her Essentia Health doctor, said her dad, Rick Blake. Under the Minnesota law, patients can obtain medical marijuana only after being certified as having one of nine qualifying conditions by a physician.
Rick Blake said the last he was told, Essentia still didn't have a policy in place for determining whether to certify patients.
"I'm not sure they understand how," he said, then added: "I do think they're moving forward."
Dr. Brian Konowalchuk, chairman of the health system's cannabis committee, said Essentia does have a policy in place.
"There has to be appropriate medical indications and has to be a treatment that's felt to be (appropriate)," Konowalchuk said.
He declined to say if any patients have been certified by Essentia Health doctors.
At St. Luke's hospital, chief medical officer Dr. Gary Peterson said four oncologists are in the process of applying to be eligible to certify patients.
Jess Blake is doing well, her father said, except for bouts of nausea. Within the past week, the nausea became so severe that she was treated in the emergency room.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Some still waiting for medical marijuana
Author: John Lundy
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: None Found
Website:Duluth News Tribune
