Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2021
516. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Health if he plans to make medical cannabis accessible through the medical cannabis access programme to persons with epilepsy and their clinicians; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29741/21]
View answerThe Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP) will make it possible for a medical consultant registered with the Irish Medical Council to prescribe a listed cannabis-based treatment for a patient under his or her care for the three conditions covered by the programme, where the patient has failed to respond to standard treatments:
The three specified therapeutic indications covered by the programme:
- Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis resistant to all standard therapies and interventions.
- Intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, despite the use of standard anti-emetic regimes.
- Severe, refractory epilepsy that has failed to respond to standard anticonvulsant medications.
The programme is included in the HSE Service Plan for 2021, will operate on a five-year pilot basis and is expected to commence shortly.
