COVID-19 AND PATIENT CERTIFICATION PROCESS

Admittedly, this is a rant. Here it is: Telehealth is allowed for almost all medical procedures that don’t require actual contact between provider and patient, and this includes relaxation of prescription laws, so that patients no longer need to pick up a physical prescription and drop it off at the pharmacy for drugs like Oxycontin, morphine, and such. The only exception is cannabis certifications for new patients, and for renewal patients who are not seeing their prior certifying provider. This administrative rule on the part of the Hawaii State Department of Health is arbitrary and capricious, and downright dangerous during an epidemic.

Another major issue is that the DOH initiated administrative rules that severely limited the intent of the legislature in Act 116, which states that patients should have the option to have up to 3-year certifications if the certifying provider determines that the condition is chronic.

https://health.hawaii.gov/medicalcannabis/files/2018/07/Act-116-18.pdf