The courts in the United States and Canada recently took a call on the use of medical marijuana. These rulings may actually set a precedent for all the insurance firms to clear/pay off the doctor-approved marijuana medical bills. In the past couple of months, in consideration of an addictive potential of the opiates and also because of some safety concerns on marijuana, the judges in Canada and the U.S. have gone on to rule in favor of the insurance firms covering medical marijuana for patients.
In the month of January, one judge from New Jersey made a major ruling that the workers’ compensation has to be covering the costs of medical marijuana. After having a hearing testimony from a person called Andrew Watson, who had gone on to use medical marijuana when he had an injury at workplace, the administrative law judge French had ordered the workers’ camp to take up the responsibility and pay off all the medical marijuana costs that Watson had incurred. A Philadelphia inquirer is now reporting a very detailed article on this case. This may set a new precedent for the medical marijuana patients.
In the year 2014, Watson actually used cannabis that was obtained in a legal manner through the state’s medical marijuana scheme for treating the intractable neuropathic pain that he had in the left hand. He also testified that it was probably the best treatment that was available for this kind of injury and he also stated that it did not have any sort of side effects.
Edward H. Tobe (Psychiatrist and Nerologist) also went on to testify all the well-known risks of taking opiates and the benefits that the cannabis medicine gave Watson. He stated that marijuana actually helped Watson to reduce his opiate use and it was very likely to help him in doing better in life.
Tobe went on to add that opiates can also shut down breathing, but cannabinoids will not. He stated that marijuana actually does not impact the mid brain. The mid brain is very critical in actually controlling the respiration, heart rate, and many other life preserving elements.
The administrative law Judge – French’s opinion stated that with all the evidence from court proceedings, it is clear that the use of this medical marijuana has been very much successful. Even though courts are actually very sensitive to this controversy that surrounds the use of medical marijuana, or if it has to be prescribed to the patients, it is actually a medical decision, which is well within the boundaries of the state laws.