What in the world of medical marijuana!?
We are VERY disappointed in the Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center! The institution has reportedly denied a liver cancer patient a life-saving transplant because he smoked the pot that his doctor (at the same hospital) prescribed him!
The Americans for Safe Access advocacy group reports that Norman B. Smith was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer in 2009, then given a prescription for medical marijuana by his Cedars-Sinai oncologist, Dr. Steven Miles.
The alternative treatment was meant to help the 63-year-old deal with the effects of chemotherapy and pain from a previous back surgery, but it may also cost him his life!
In September of 2010, Norman became eligible for a liver transplant, but was taken off of the transplant list just two months shy of receiving it! Apparently, testing positive for prescribed marijuana is in non-compliance with the hospital’s substance abuse contract.
To add to this man’s baffling predicament, sources point out that medical marijuana use is completely legal in California and studies have shown it poses no medical risk to liver transplantation!
This isn’t the first time a liver cancer patient was removed from the transplant list due to prescribed marijuana, but the medical community still hasn’t learned its lesson. Two men died in 2008 after being denied a transplant because of their “substance abuse”.
We know medical marijuana is a sensitive issue, with many arguing its pros and cons, but denying a man his life because he used a treatment method prescribed by his doctor is CRUEL!
[Image via AP Images.]
