Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Mark Oswald

POT SUIT CLAIMS CONFLICT OF INTEREST

PTSD Patient Denied Marijuana

A Santa Fe psychiatrist is suing the state Health Department and the 
Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, alleging the department has 
improperly denied medical marijuana for a post-traumatic syndrome patient.

The suit says that Dr. Steven Rosenberg, the board's part-time 
medical director, rejected Dr. Carola Kieve's pot application for a 
PTSD patient because she hadn't tried other medications as treatments 
first, which the suit says is not required in state law.

Also, the suit maintains, Rosenberg wanted Kieve to submit extensive 
medical records for her patient. The suit says that's also not called 
for by law and has not been demanded by Rosenberg or the medical 
cannabis board "for treatment of other debilitating diseases."

The lawsuit, filed for Kieve by lawyer and state representative Brian 
Egolf, alleges that Rosenberg, hired as the board's part-time medical 
director last year, has a conflict of interest between his state role 
and his own private practice in Albuquerque.

The website for his Albuquerque Integrative Medicine says the 
practice is "solely dedicated to the evaluation and certification of 
patients' eligibility for enrollment in the New Mexico Medical 
Cannabis Program."

Kieve's lawsuit alleges: "As a consequence of his dual roles - one 
private, one public - Dr. Rosenberg is routinely placed in the 
position of approving or denying applications (for pot prescriptions) 
by his economic competitors, namely other physicians whose patients 
did not choose Dr. Rosenberg for certification."

"Each time Dr. Rosenberg denies an application submitted by a 
competitor's patient, he takes an official action that affects his 
own personal interest," the suit adds.

A spokesman for the Health Department said Tuesday that department 
officials hadn't seen the lawsuit, filed in state District Court on 
Friday, and provided no comment. A call left for Rosenberg, who is 
not named as a defendant in the suit, Tuesday evening at his home was 
not returned.

The suit alleges that the hiring of Rosenberg for the medical 
marijuana program violates the state's Governmental Conduct Act 
because he "possesses a financial interest that is directly affected 
by his official actions and decisions."

The issue of potential conflicts for Rosenberg has come up before. A 
Health Department spokesman said in August, after he was hired by the 
state, that Rosenberg's own applications for medical marijuana for 
patients will be reviewed by another Health Department doctor.

During a state Medical Board disciplinary proceeding last year, 
Rosenberg testified as a medical expert for the board. Dr. Nicholas 
Nardacci maintained that Rosenberg's testimony raising questions 
about Nardacci's numerous medical marijuana certifications was 
biased. "He's my No. 1 competitor and he stands substantially to 
benefit if I were out of the game," Nardacci said.

The board suspended Nardacci's medical license, saying among other 
things that he had "injudiciously authorized" patients to obtain 
controlled substances.

Kieve's lawsuit says Rosenberg was imposing improper requirements on 
her application for medical pot for her PTSD patient.

"Nowhere in regulations is there a requirement that evidence be 
submitted to prove that therapies other than medical cannabis have 
been attempted," the suit states. "Furthermore, the only regulatory 
requirement for medical records is limited to records confirming a diagnosis."

Threat alleged

After Kieve's application for medical pot for her PTSD patient was 
rejected, Rosenberg told her "all of her future applications will be 
subjected to medical records requirements," according to the lawsuit.

He also is alleged to have threatened "to take actions against" her 
medical license "on the basis of her belief that she need not submit 
medical records" to support medical cannabis for treating PTSD.

The lawsuit asks a judge to find that the state's demands that Kieve 
has to present medical records and proof that other treatments were 
tried before marijuana "are void and unenforceable"; that the medical 
cannabis program's employment of Rosenberg violates the Governmental 
Conduct Act; that the state can't add criteria for the use of medical 
pot "not expressly found" in the state medical marijuana law; and 
that the state can't deny medical cannabis "for any reason that is 
not expressly found" in the law.

The lawsuit doesn't ask for monetary damages.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom