Medical cannabis: implementation "feasible and operational" according to an experimental report
What the medical cannabis experimentation reports reveal.
A few weeks ago, we mentioned the government's intention to renew the medical cannabis supply experiment... even before its term.
In the meantime, the three reports commissioned by the government were submitted on time and all have one aspect in common: they deliver positive conclusions favorable to the implementation of the system.
Remember: on March 31, 2022, at the start of the experiment, there were 1,450 patients. To date, 1,036 patients are still part of the system, 406 have left it, and 8 people are about to join.
Among these 1,450 patients in total, the most common inclusion reasons are neuropathic pain refractory to available therapies, painful spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and pharmaco-resistant forms of epilepsy.
Of the 406 patients who left the experiment, 38% cited "adverse effect" as the cause, 37% pointed to "ineffectiveness of treatment," and 15% died during the experiment.
Overall, the results collected are encouraging. Patients with neuropathic pain and painful spasticity from multiple sclerosis showed the most convincing and significant results.
Other indications included in the overall satisfactions are oncology and palliative situations. In this case, 52% of "oncology" patients reported an improvement ranging from "slight to very significant."
The conclusions of the first report on the main objective of the experiment are formal: "The results from the register data and the qualitative information obtained through interviews with field actors allowed us to validate the feasibility of the medical cannabis supply chain for most steps - in light of these conclusions, the evaluation carried out here makes it possible to meet the main objective of the experiment, namely that the medical cannabis supply chain for French patients is feasible and operational under the conditions defined and implemented in practice."
Only the effectiveness of medical cannabis currently escapes these formal conclusions, for a simple reason: the experiment was not intended to measure it (too small a panel and follow-up deemed short).
Let's add that ANSM, also consulted via a second report, expressed no reservations or opposition to the availability of medical cannabis.
Enthusiastic patient feedback following cannabis intake during the trial
And what do patients think of this experiment? The responses obtained were included in a third report entitled Patient Journey and Perception:
- 68% reported perceiving beneficial effects
- 32% of patients who perceived beneficial effects said they perceived "a lot," both in terms of their health status and their quality of life
- They also highlighted clear satisfaction with medical care since the start of their participation in the experiment – an average score of 8.2 out of 10, with 51% giving a score of 9/10 or higher
Trends emerge among respondents:
- The provision of medical cannabis is perceived as positive and is justified as long as it relieves and helps patients to better cope with their condition
- Patients who experienced beneficial effects wish to continue consuming medical cannabis
- If the experiment were to end or if the conclusions presented led to the abandonment of the overall project, some patients would continue their consumption even illegally
The Ministry of Health announced that despite the positive conclusions delivered by the three reports, it will still take time and additional studies before progressing on the provision of medical cannabis.
Missing data, too small a panel, lack of participation from general practitioners, and the absence of a definition of the status of products used during the experiment are the reasons given to justify this position.
