"Less Waiting Time for Patients – More Trust in Doctors"

The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) today approved changes to the initial prescription of medicinal cannabis. They are intended to make access to cannabis medicines considerably easier.

Currently, it takes an average of three weeks for a health insurance company to decide on a cannabis therapy request. This is because an initial prescription usually required approval. The waiting often involves significant suffering for patients, who include those with cancer, multiple sclerosis, or chronic pain. Previously, 30 to 40 percent of applications were rejected by various health insurance companies. This led to fewer prescribers being willing to submit applications. The new regulations aim to change this by allowing specialists with additional qualifications to make their own decisions about cannabis prescriptions without needing approval:

• The G-BA's decision on July 18, 2024, introduces exceptions to the approval requirement.
• The application from the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV) with patient representatives and the G-BA was accepted (seven votes to six against the votes of the GKV-Spitzenverband).
• The regulation was initiated under the Supply Shortage Act (ALBVVG, July 2023) and aims to make THC medications more easily available to those who need them, especially for severe conditions.
• Doctors with the appropriate qualifications can prescribe medicinal cannabis without prior approval from health insurance companies.
• According to the application, this applies to specialists in neurology, psychiatry, oncology, infectious diseases, gynecology, geriatrics, gastroenterology, and general practitioners participating in general outpatient palliative care (AAPV).
• Required additional training ensures that doctors can assess cannabis therapy effectively and includes specializations such as pain therapy, palliative medicine, sleep medicine, social medicine, basic addiction medicine, medication-based tumor therapy, and geriatrics.
• A review of the regulation will also take place after 15 months (based on the number of prescriptions by specialist groups and applications for cost coverage, regressions, and review procedures).

Grünhorn’s CEO and Medical Experts Welcome the Decision

“The regulation is a crucial step towards easing access to medicinal cannabis for those who need it,” says Stefan Fritsch, CEO of the Grünhorn Group. Grünhorn has been dedicated to improving the supply of medicinal cannabis for years and views the regulation as part of a positive shift. “We have firsthand experience of how difficult it often was to receive necessary treatments. It is therefore even more important that, following the partial legalization of cannabis in Germany, the regulations for prescribing THC-containing medical products are now being simplified. This means less waiting time for patients – and more trust in doctors,” adds Fritsch.

In some cases, severe fates are linked with the bureaucracy in the reimbursement process for medicinal cannabis. As an example, Dr. Lorenz Eberle, a physician, cites a case from his practice: “Many patients cannot afford to pay for their treatment themselves. I think of one of my epilepsy patients, for whom cannabis therapy could have been very successful but was denied. For such people, it is a significant advancement if treating doctors are trusted more and can make decisions easily."
Dr. Eberle continues:“If a doctor prescribes a cannabis medication, the insurance should cover it as well. For a diabetes medication, no one questions it every time. The planned additional qualifications are a step in the right direction to ensure that specialists are well-informed about cannabis. ” When dealing with serious illnesses, waiting adds an additional burden. The G-BA decision leads to faster processes and can thus have a significant positive impact on the quality of life for many people with similar experiences.

Sources:

^{https://www.g-ba.de/presse/pressemitteilungen-meldungen/1098/
https://www.g-ba.de/downloads/17-98-5451/2023-03-16_FAQ%20Cannabisarzneimittel.pdf
KBV – Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung
https://www.deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de/news/artikel/2018/04/16/das-koennte-die-krankenkasse-ueberzeugen}