Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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289. To ask the Minister for Health if the medicinal cannabis compassionate access programme to be launched soon will allow consultants to prescribe cannabis oil with THC content; and if the scheme will allow a consultant to determine the level of THC content of the oil based on the medical needs of the person in question. [41243/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On foot of the conclusions from the Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (HPRA) report I have undertaken to establish an Access Programme for cannabis-based treatments, for patients under the care of a medical consultant, for the following medical conditions:

- spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies;

- intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy;

- severe, refractory (treatment-resistant) epilepsy.

In March I established an Expert Group, chaired by Dr Mairín Ryan from HIQA, to develop the operational, clinical and practice guidelines for the Access Programme. The guidance will include a list of THC and CBD-based cannabis products for use under the access programme, along with general dosage information. As doses will vary depending on the type of product used, individual patient variation, development of tolerance, interaction with other drugs and previous exposure to cannabis, dose adjustments will be a matter for the prescriber based on the patient’s response to treatment.

The Expert Group conducted a targeted consultation on the draft guidelines for prescribers, patients and pharmacists and is due to finalise these guidelines shortly. Officials in my Department are working on secondary legislation to underpin the programme and on the logistics of sourcing suitable cannabis-based product supplies for the Irish market place.

Ultimately it is the decision of the clinician, in consultation with their patient, to prescribe or not prescribe a particular treatment for a patient under their care. As Minister for Health I have no role in this clinical decision-making process.