Demand for medicinal cannabis products via telemedicine
26 April 2022
New Zealanders are embracing the convenience and speed of telemedicine for access to medicinal cannabis products on prescription. The Pain Clinic – recently launched in this new field – is seeing a surge in demand from people with pain, anxiety and other symptoms for which medicinal cannabis is now recognised as a treatment.
The Pain Clinic offers online consultations with medical practitioners who are particularly familiar with CBD oils and other medicinal cannabis, and with their potential for helping treat various conditions. Subject to consultation and to clinical judgement, anyone living in New Zealand can be prescribed appropriate products from those meeting the minimum quality standard (under the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme) or from the approved medicines list.
Business Development Manager Paul McCann says The Pain Clinic is committed to helping change the way New Zealanders achieve better health outcomes. “We are finding that many people who’ve not had great results with multiple other approaches to relieving their symptoms are, at this stage, very keen to try medicinal cannabis products.
“Telemedicine is especially valuable to these patients because of its convenience and the ease,” Paul says. “They can have a medical consultation from home and then pick up a filled prescription that has been emailed to the pharmacy of their choice, or even have the products home-delivered by courier.”
The Pain Clinic, launched in early March at www.thepainclinic.co.nz, has four Medical Practitioners at this stage. People go online and book an appointment in one of the available slots. Consultations are one-on-one, and as private and confidential as any other GP consultation.
Mr McCann says The Pain Clinic seeks to work as cooperatively as it can with other medical practices and patients, and their GPs, are able to exchange notes with The Pain Clinic physicians.
This month The Pain Clinic has opened a physical clinic in Christchurch, at 248 Papanui Road, where a Practice Manager is available to help anyone engage in the online consultation process. In time, The Pain Clinic intends to base one or more practitioners at this site to provide people with an in-person consultation option.
Mr McCann says online consultation numbers have jumped from week to week, and demand for appointment times is increasing steadily. “We are seeking to expand our number of practitioners who are GPs or specialists in fields like rheumatology. Medicinal cannabis is a new class of medicinal products here and internationally, and everyone appreciates that practitioners are learning more all the time about the products legally available and their potential benefits to people with diverse symptoms.”
The Pain Clinic is operated by Medical Kiwi Limited, a licensed medicinal cannabis products company engaged also in cannabis cultivation and supply, and in product development.
