CLINICAL CARELESSNESS

The Arizona Cannabis Physicians Group Seems To Be
Solely Concerned About Profit, Not Patients

When I left you last week, I was driving home
from the pot clinic, thinking that in a week or
so, I would be shopping for 5-gallon buckets, grow lights and clones.

My bad. It took longer than that. A lot longer, in fact.

Because doctors are busy, and I didn't see the
need for a huge rush, I waited a full 30 days
before calling to check on the medical records
the MMJ clinic was going to get from my
physician. No one ever called to say there was a problem.

When I called the clinic, the receptionist was a
bit gruff. They never received the records, she
said curtly. No offer to help. No offer to call
my doctor to ask about the records. Not a lot of compassion.

None, in fact.

At this point, my skepticism began to overtake my
benefit-of-the-doubtism about the Arizona
Cannabis Physicians Group clinic, which is part
of the USA Cannabis Physicians Group, with
offices in California, Michigan, Washington and
Arizona (Tucson, Tempe and Phoenix).

It was starting to seem even more icky and
sketchy than it did on the marketing-heavy
website and during the exam. Just in case, I asked about the refund policy.

"We don't have a refund policy," the receptionist
said. "The doctor deserves to be paid for his time."

Screeching halt.

One reason I chose the USA Cannabis Physicians
Group was the potential refund. Nothing to lose,
remember? Suddenly, there was something to
lose=ADthe $143 I paid for the evaluation.

She explained that the case was basically in
limbo. No refund could be offered, because the
doctor hadn't rejected my certification, per se.
He simply hadn't been able to make a decision without records.

Then she gave me a number to call about a
possible refund (two minutes after telling me
they had no refund policy), and promised to send
the request for my records again, "right now."

I waited a few days, and then called my
primary-care doctor. The office had never
received any request for my records=ADnot a first
one, not a second one. The woman at Arizona
Cannabis Physicians Group was apparently lying.

Hmmmm.

At this point, I thought I might have to bail on
the MMJ clinic, so after I asked my doctor to fax
my records, I asked for a referral to another
clinic, just in case. He told me to call Tucson
Alternative Medical Solutions, an eastside clinic
run by physicians. I called them.

Phone not in service. Dead end.

I started looking around for other options, all
of which were going to add an unpleasant $150 to
my MMJ-card tally, which was already going to be at least $300.

Meanwhile, Arizona Cannabis Physicians got my
records within about two days of my asking, much
to the new receptionist's apparent annoyance. The
new receptionist wasn't much more compassionate
than the first, and didn't know why my records requests weren't sent.

Although I have suffered from chronic pain for
more than 20 years, I do not have a long list of
recent doctor visits. I gave up a long time ago
on codeine and Vicodin, and there is a vast
stretch of medical emptiness in my life, after I
lost my job and discovered that unemployment
alone=AD$247 per week=ADwas too much income to qualify for AHCCCS.

So, my recent medical records are light on
documentation=ADand documentation is something
doctors attest to having seen or not seen in
their medical-marijuana certifications.

In the end, the highly marketed and seemingly
profit-conscious Arizona Cannabis Physicians
Group doctor, who may or may not have a
motorcycle by now, was convinced that I do indeed
suffer from chronic pain. But it just wasn't
there in my medical records. So he graciously
offered to diagnose me himself ... for another $100.

After all, the doctor has a right to be paid for his time.