HighLowGrow
Well-Known Member
VALLEY SPRINGS - The way Sam Slayter tells it, a Valley Springs doctor refused to serve him because he was honest about all the medications he takes for back pain.
The vicodin wasn't a problem for the physician, Slayter said, but medical marijuana was.
"He said, 'I won't treat you,' " Slayter said of Dr. Rafael Rosado, who works at a family clinic operated by Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital in Valley Springs.
Slayter, 61, said that Rosado told him that since marijuana is illegal under federal law, treating marijuana users could jeopardize the clinic's federal funding.
Rosado did not respond to either an email or a phone message left with office staff asking for a response.
Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital officials said neither the hospital nor its family clinics have any policy banning doctors from serving medical marijuana patients. What's more, doctors at the hospital have in some cases written the state-mandated letters recommending medical marijuana.
"I do give recommendations for cannabis when I have documented pathology," said Dr. Sean Anderson, the hospital's vice president of medical affairs and an expert in the treatment of pain.
Both Anderson and Mark Twain President Feliciano Jiron declined to discuss the specifics of Slayter's case, citing patient confidentiality. But they suggested that his description of the conversation with Rosado could have been a misunderstanding.
Jiron and Anderson said the hospital has a protocol that primary-care physicians use to refer patients to pain-management specialists when they appear to be using a large amount of opiate pain medications such as Vicodin.
According to Slayter, that description fits him. "I'm on Vicodin, Percocet and Methadone," said Slayter, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and said he has pain from gunshot wounds to his back.
Slayter said he hopes to find a physician to help him reduce the number of pills he takes and to better manage his pain.
Whether Slayter's experience was a misunderstanding or an outright clash is uncertain. Health care providers, medical-marijuana patients and advocates all say that there is often tension when medical-marijuana users seek conventional health care.
Thomas Liberty is a volunteer with Collective Patient Resources, which assists medical-marijuana patients.
He says many patients are afraid to tell their primary-care doctors that they use pot and that at times even organizations such as Hospice have been reluctant to send end-of-life care providers into the homes of dying people who are using medical marijuana.
Caela White, a registered nurse and director of patient care for Hospice of Amador and Calaveras, said it is simply not true that the agency has been reluctant or resistant to caring for medical-marijuana patients. "We will take care of anybody."
Still, Hospice does find itself doing a dance. Some patients, for example, have asked Hospice nurses to help administer medical marijuana to them. White said Hospice staff won't do that because the agency believes doing so would provoke the federal government to withdraw funding.
Meanwhile, Liberty has had his own dispute with Mark Twain. He has asked to have a Collective Patient Resources booth at Mark Twain-sponsored health fairs. The hospital has refused.
"We have been asked to give a seal of approval," Jiron said. "We do not feel it is our place to be in the middle of that dialogue."
It is not unheard of for federal regulators to put the squeeze on medical marijuana. Many banks, for example, now refuse to serve businesses that dispense medical marijuana because federal regulators make it difficult to do so.
Most health care providers, however, say that the federal government has not tried to interfere with their relationship with patients.
"There's been really no communication from either the state or the feds that our funding was in any way in jeopardy if we provide services for people who have a medical-marijuana card or are using medical marijuana. So it is not an issue at all," said Dr. Thomas Mahoney, medical director of Channel Medical Center, a Stockton-based clinic that receives a portion of its funding from the federal government.
And a number of health officials said the last thing they'd want to do is to send a signal that might make patients uncomfortable about sharing their medical history with their doctors.
"The message to get out to the community is as an organization we are respectful of individual rights and individual beliefs," Jiron said.
The vicodin wasn't a problem for the physician, Slayter said, but medical marijuana was.
"He said, 'I won't treat you,' " Slayter said of Dr. Rafael Rosado, who works at a family clinic operated by Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital in Valley Springs.
Slayter, 61, said that Rosado told him that since marijuana is illegal under federal law, treating marijuana users could jeopardize the clinic's federal funding.
Rosado did not respond to either an email or a phone message left with office staff asking for a response.
Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital officials said neither the hospital nor its family clinics have any policy banning doctors from serving medical marijuana patients. What's more, doctors at the hospital have in some cases written the state-mandated letters recommending medical marijuana.
"I do give recommendations for cannabis when I have documented pathology," said Dr. Sean Anderson, the hospital's vice president of medical affairs and an expert in the treatment of pain.
Both Anderson and Mark Twain President Feliciano Jiron declined to discuss the specifics of Slayter's case, citing patient confidentiality. But they suggested that his description of the conversation with Rosado could have been a misunderstanding.
Jiron and Anderson said the hospital has a protocol that primary-care physicians use to refer patients to pain-management specialists when they appear to be using a large amount of opiate pain medications such as Vicodin.
According to Slayter, that description fits him. "I'm on Vicodin, Percocet and Methadone," said Slayter, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and said he has pain from gunshot wounds to his back.
Slayter said he hopes to find a physician to help him reduce the number of pills he takes and to better manage his pain.
Whether Slayter's experience was a misunderstanding or an outright clash is uncertain. Health care providers, medical-marijuana patients and advocates all say that there is often tension when medical-marijuana users seek conventional health care.
Thomas Liberty is a volunteer with Collective Patient Resources, which assists medical-marijuana patients.
He says many patients are afraid to tell their primary-care doctors that they use pot and that at times even organizations such as Hospice have been reluctant to send end-of-life care providers into the homes of dying people who are using medical marijuana.
Caela White, a registered nurse and director of patient care for Hospice of Amador and Calaveras, said it is simply not true that the agency has been reluctant or resistant to caring for medical-marijuana patients. "We will take care of anybody."
Still, Hospice does find itself doing a dance. Some patients, for example, have asked Hospice nurses to help administer medical marijuana to them. White said Hospice staff won't do that because the agency believes doing so would provoke the federal government to withdraw funding.
Meanwhile, Liberty has had his own dispute with Mark Twain. He has asked to have a Collective Patient Resources booth at Mark Twain-sponsored health fairs. The hospital has refused.
"We have been asked to give a seal of approval," Jiron said. "We do not feel it is our place to be in the middle of that dialogue."
It is not unheard of for federal regulators to put the squeeze on medical marijuana. Many banks, for example, now refuse to serve businesses that dispense medical marijuana because federal regulators make it difficult to do so.
Most health care providers, however, say that the federal government has not tried to interfere with their relationship with patients.
"There's been really no communication from either the state or the feds that our funding was in any way in jeopardy if we provide services for people who have a medical-marijuana card or are using medical marijuana. So it is not an issue at all," said Dr. Thomas Mahoney, medical director of Channel Medical Center, a Stockton-based clinic that receives a portion of its funding from the federal government.
And a number of health officials said the last thing they'd want to do is to send a signal that might make patients uncomfortable about sharing their medical history with their doctors.
"The message to get out to the community is as an organization we are respectful of individual rights and individual beliefs," Jiron said.
