Medical cannabis experiment includes its 1,000th patient

Seven months later the experiment's media debut of medical cannabis in France, the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé (ANSM) has announced that it has included the 1,000th patient out of a planned 3,000.

https://twitter.com/ansm/status/1462843785721921546?s=20

The announcement also provided an opportunity to report on the latest developments in the experiment, notably the easing of inclusion conditions and the progress made in training healthcare professionals.

So.., the quotas that applied in terms of patients included by indication and per doctor have been lifted, as have certain criteria to facilitate access for patients concerned by palliative care and oncology.

Several pharmacists on the same team will also be able to train in prescribing, and only a few chapters of medical cannabis training are now compulsory for healthcare professionals.

There are currently 48 private GPs trained in medical cannabis in France, and 212 dispensing pharmacists, for a total of 1,035 healthcare professionals working in 243 facilities, including the list has been updated.

«We're working on an agile experiment: the conditions for participation are constantly being reviewed to meet the needs of patients and healthcare professionals as closely as possible, in consultation with them and on the basis of their feedback from the field,» explained Nathalie Richard, Medical Cannabis Project Director at ANSM.

To date, just over 22% patients have left the trial, «mainly due to undesirable effects or ineffectiveness», for a total of 779 effective patients.

Inclusion of patients will continue until September 2022, which leaves around ten months to include the remaining 2,000 patients. The time will then come to consider whether or not medical cannabis should be made widely available in France.