DOCTOR PUT HER OWN LIFE ON THE LINE FOR PATIENTS

The easy way is to follow the path of least resistance. But that was
not Dr. Claudia Jensen's way.

She trod the harder, rockier route taken by those whose conscience
won't let them coast.

The Ventura physician's good fight ended Sept. 15 when she died of
breast cancer at age 52 in a Mission Viejo hospital.

She left behind two daughters -- ages 17 and 20 -- hundreds of
patients and a legacy of doing what her heart told her to do.

In 1996, Jensen was an early critic of the patient care delivered by
HMOs. Eventually, she lost her job after she questioned the quality
of care offered by the medical group she worked for. Believing she
was let go unfairly, she was the first doctor to test a then-new
state statute forbidding retaliation against physicians who advocate
for their patients.

She could have settled, but she took it all the way to trial. She
lost, and it cost her dearly financially.

She then found a new cause, one she believed in even more passionately.

In the words of political columnist Molly Ivins, another brave soul
who died this year of breast cancer, Jensen chose to "raise more hell."

Educated at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine and an
instructor at USC Keck School of Medicine, Jensen became a proponent
of the use of medical marijuana -- legal in this state since 1996.

She even dared to advocate the use of pot by teenagers. Specifically
teenagers with attention deficient disorders so severe their lives
were in tatters. Cannabis, she believed, was far more effective and
safe for ADD than the more commonly prescribed Ritalin.

And on April Fools' Day 2004, she was asked to testify before a less
than simpatico Congressional subcommittee about her unconventional approach.

If the officials expected some aging hippie chick or slacker dudette,
they were in for a surprise. She looked every bit the well-settled
suburban woman.

"I am the 49-year-old mother of two teenage daughters," she began her
testimony.

She explained the dosage could be monitored so patients would not be
going through their days stoned.

When asked how she knew cannabis worked, she replied, "because I
listen to my patients."

And so she did.

"She was a caring, compassionate person who took the time to let you
know you mattered," said Harold, a former patient who asked that his
last name not be used.

Compassionate, yes. A pushover, no.

The Ventura man sought her out in 2001 when he was undergoing
treatment with Interferon for the Hepatitis C he contracted through
his years of drug abuse. She prescribed medical marijuana to ease his
severe side effects but had his urine checked to make sure he had no
other drugs in his system.

Today, he said, he is 10 years clean and sober and free of the
Hepatitis C because he was able to complete the rigorous treatment.

With Jensen, the angel of mercy was in the details, said another
patient, Dar -- who also asked that his last name not be used.

Disabled by severe back problems that prevented him from sleeping
more than a couple of hours a night, he also sought out Dr. Jensen
for a medical marijuana prescription. She prescribed the cannabis but
insisted he change his lifestyle. She coached him to eat a healthier
diet, follow through on his physical therapy and give up soda pop.

"In this cattle-call world of medicine, I mattered to her. She was
available to patients day and night," he said, adding that she would
call him to check on his progress.

Jensen never seemed to have time to talk about her own illness, Dar noted.

And on Sept. 1, deep into her battle against cancer, she checked into
the hospital with her briefcase and her laptop, prepared to keep up
her practice from her bed.

Her fiance, Bob Chade, thought the stay would be short. She just
needed to be rehydrated and to start eating again.

But she never made it out, said Chade, who has known her five years.

Surrounded by her daughters Amani and Alia, she said she didn't want
to leave them.

Chade encouraged her to go to sleep.

It's hard to know why some of us take the unconventional path.

But if anyone could do it, said Chade, it was Claudia Jensen.

"People who didn't really know her thought she was the wacky weed
doctor. But her colleagues trusted her because her knowledge of
medicine was solid."

I suppose some would say a marijuana proponent took the high road. In
Jensen's case, she certainly gave that phrase new meaning.