On J Day, Medleaf declares it’s support for patients to be able to grow their own medicine, as the ultimate way for patients to bypass reluctant prescribers, and over the top product requirements relating to prescriptions, which result in legal prescription products having an insurmountable pricing floor beyond the reach of many patients.
Medleaf strives to deliver the best value for patients, but ultimately, the Medical Cannabis scheme’s settings are designed for businesses to export, and continue to fail patients who could benefit the most from Medical Cannabis.
These issues include,
- Onerous appeals processes for accessing funding from ACC.
- Significant shortcomings in Disability allowance, with most patients maxing out this benefit for day to day costs.
- The low rate of Supported Living payments.
- The added costs on products to meet NZ standards.
- Lack of viable funding pathways at PHARMAC.
- Funding resistance from private health insurers.
“I pride myself on our commitment to having superior whole plant products at affordable prices, but ultimately, with all the barriers in place, the people who could benefit from Medical Cannabis products the most, such as those with various Neurological conditions, that are often unable to work, on benefits, and in some cases selling their assets to stay afloat financially, are forgotten by the legal scheme“
“It’s a travesty that affordability was not at the forefront of peoples minds when developing this law, and it seems more effort went into licensing and business creation than patient access“
“The cost of sun, seeds and soil will always beat even affordable prescription products. Its imperative for patients that we revisit the potential for ‘Grow your own’ on at least a prescription basis, so that the benefits of Medical Cannabis can be unleashed on those who are currently excluded from the legal market” Says Medleaf Director Courtney Letica.
