DOCTORS RUN RISK IF PRESCRIBING POT USE

Physicians who recommend medical use of marijuana risk huge liability,
according to an Educating Voices Inc. white paper.

Courts have ruled that physicians have a duty to inform patients of
risks and side effects associated with treatments. This is not
possible with marijuana because there is no standard chemical
composition, no standard dosage, no safe delivery system, no quality
controls in the manufacturing process, and little or no knowledge of
marijuana's interaction with other drugs or impact on pre-existing
conditions. Historically, physicians have relied on the federal Food
and Drug Administration approval process to protect them from
liability should a drug be unsafe. The FDA has not approved marijuana.
A movement has grown to put "medical marijuana" to a public vote,
bypassing the FDA approval process, in spite of the scarcity of
scientific research showing its effectiveness in medical treatment. It
is irresponsible and medically unsound to ask the public to make
decisions concerning a drug's efficacy.

The points of law covered in the white paper all show a large
potential liability for physicians who recommend marijuana as
medicine. Read the white paper at http:educatingvoices.org.

William R. Walluks

Madison