Doctor's visit or screen? The government wants to make it more complicated
It was only in April that medical cannabis was removed from the strict narcotics law - finally a modern step that should make access easier for patients. But just a few months later, the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) wants to row back again. The new draft law: only with a personal visit to the doctor - every four quarters. Prescriptions via video consultation? No chance. Dispatch by pharmacies? Forbidden.
Officially, the regulation is said to be necessary to prevent abuse. However, critics see this as a hasty retreat to the old analog times - without any evidence that telemedicine actually poses a greater risk. Even in the coalition agreement, the coalition government announced the digitalization of the healthcare system. Now there is a threat of regression.
A law against doctors - and against Europe?
Particularly explosive: the planned tightening could violate several fundamental rights and European principles. Doctors would have to overcome more bureaucratic hurdles - and lose competitiveness compared to their colleagues in other EU countries. This is because video consultations remain permitted there.
The result? Patients could soon prefer to have their cannabis prescriptions issued on-screen in Amsterdam or Vienna - and then legally redeem them in Germany. An absurd scenario that weakens the German market and at the same time provides no real protection against abuse.
Clear rules already apply today: Advertisements for remote treatment are severely restricted, commercial links between doctors and pharmacies are prohibited, and medical responsibility remains in place even when prescribing online. In short, it is by no means the Wild West, but controlled care by digital means.
Digitization or a return to the fax age?
In practice, the planned law means one thing above all: an additional burden for seriously ill patients. In future, people with chronic pain or serious illnesses would have to go on a quarterly pilgrimage to the doctor - even if they have already been diagnosed and their medication has not changed. For many, this is simply not feasible. Especially in rural regions, where there are hardly any cannabis-experienced doctors, telemedicine is often the only way to provide care.
Instead of further developing this model and safeguarding it with targeted controls, the wrecking ball is now being used. And this is happening in the middle of an ongoing evaluation process - in other words, before it is even clear where the specific problems lie. Even more absurd: the restriction only affects German doctors. The more liberal EU rules continue to apply to prescriptions from abroad. A clear competitive disadvantage - and possibly contrary to European law.
Patients fall by the wayside
This type of legislation seems like a digital step backwards with an announcement. It's strange that the same politicians who are proclaiming the e-prescription are once again making doctors' surgeries the bottleneck when it comes to medical cannabis. Instead of controlling doctors, they would rather control progress.
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