Cannabis products assigned reimbursement codes

Specified controlled drug products have been assigned administrative codes by the HSE under the medical cannabis access programme (MCAP). The drugs are CannEpil Oral Solution and Tilray THC10:CBD10 Full Spectrum Oral Solution.

The MCAP is a five-year pilot programme and subject to review. The aim of the programme is to provide access to cannabis-based treatments for patients with the following medical conditions, which have failed to respond to standard treatments: Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies and interventions; intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, despite the use of standard antiemetic regimes; and severe, refractory epilepsy that has failed to respond to standard anticonvulsant medications.

In an update on the implementation of the programme, the Primary Care Reimbursement Service advised that the prescribing consultant neurologist/oncologist must make an application to register the patient on the ‘cannabis for medical use register’.

The register application form must be completed by the prescribing medical consultant and the patient/parent/guardian. Reimbursement of the drug products, prescribed by medical consultants and supplied through community pharmacies for a specified therapeutic indication, is to be made on an individual named patient basis aligned to the patient’s eligibility under the community drug schemes.