Indispensable medicine in patient therapy and an alternative to ready-made medicines

Grünhorn, the largest German provider of prescription cannabis, welcomes the decision of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) to regulate the prescription of medicinal cannabis in the future. According to Stefan Fritsch, founder of Grünhorn, however, easier access for patients to cannabis prescriptions and more straightforward cost coverage would be possible and desirable.

At its plenary session, the G-BA unanimously adopted the new cannabis medicinal product guideline with the votes of the health insurance funds, doctors and patient representatives. In future, this will apply to the medical prescription of medicinal cannabis as a benefit of statutory health insurance. During the decision, the chairman of the GBA emphasized that the guideline was implemented very closely to the existing law and the will of the legislator.

Only the first prescription of cannabis in the form of dried flowers or extracts and a fundamental change in therapy require approval from the health insurance funds. If approval for cannabis therapy was already granted before the new G-BA regulations came into force, it will continue to apply. Cannabis prescriptions in the context of specialized outpatient palliative care (SAPV) do not generally require approval.

In addition, although approval is required for general outpatient palliative care (AAPV) or if cannabis therapy is started during inpatient treatment, the review period for health insurance companies is only three days.

"In principle, the unanimous G-BA decision is a confirmation of the medical benefits of cannabis, both flowers and extracts. According to the G-BA guideline, cannabis remains an indispensable medicinal product in patient therapy and an alternative to finished medicinal products," emphasizes Stefan Fritsch. "Patients will continue to have to rely on low-cost mail-order pharmacies if the health insurance company is unable to cover the costs of treatment with medicinal cannabis. As a pharmacy, Grünhorn will continue to provide this support for patients on a broad basis and in high quality."