House committee backs bill that may lead to more conditions added to medical cannabis list

• The committee also passed a bill that could expedite the release of a deceased loved one from a hospital.

 A bill that could eventually lead to more debilitating conditions being added to the state’s medical marijuana allowable use list passed out of the Mississippi House Public Health and Human Welfare Committee last week.

The Committee also passed a bill that could expedite the release of a deceased loved one from a hospital. 

State Rep. Lee Yancey (R) said HB 1152 allows a patient to apply to the Department of Health to be able to use medical cannabis through a standardized process. 

“Very simply, a person who has a condition that nothing else is working to bring them any type of relief may have their practitioner, doctor, petition the health department to let this person try medical cannabis,” Yancey said. 

The petition would be required to include the patient’s prognosis and medical history, a narrative of how medical cannabis could potentially benefit the patient, a list of all of the conventional therapies used to attempt to treat the condition, a recommendation from the physician that medical cannabis be attempted, an outline of the proposed medical cannabis regimen, and, lastly, consent from the legal guardian or adult patient to allow the Department of Health review all medical records related to the petition. 

“The state health officer, Dr. [Daniel] Edney shall serve as the sole decision making authority on all first petitions submitted under this act,” Yancey said. 

Yancey clarified that the bill mandates that all available conventional treatments be attempted before a petition can be submitted.

Any decision made by the State Health Officer on the petition will be final.

If approved, the department has the power to limit the type, form and volume of medical cannabis provided to the patient. A reevaluation of each patient is expected to be conducted by the provider every year and if the provider and patient relationship dissolves, the card can be revoked. 

The idea is to open the number of qualifying conditions slowly, which is why Yancey said the bill is limited in scope. However, it does provide a way to open the door for new conditions that could potentially be added to the state’s current list of acceptable conditions for medical marijuana, he added.

The House committee also passed a bill that is intended to expedite the release of a deceased loved one by allowing two more categories of health providers to sign a death certificate.

State Rep. Becky Currie (R) said the bill, HB 981, would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to sign the death certificate of person who was under their care at the time of their passing.

“What’s happening right now is that their personal physician, who doesn’t come to the hospital, has to go to the hospital to sign that death certificate,” Currie described. “So what they’re asking is whoever is taking care of the patient, whether it be an MD, a PA or a nurse practitioner, is able to sign that death certificate so they’ll be able to move them and so the family will not be waiting for that death certificate.”

This would allow the certificate to be signed within 24 hours since those medical staff are already on site, she added. 

The full House could take these measures up later this week.