Compassionate Doctors Or Chain Pot Clinics?

[NoMoreMedsPlz]

Hello All,

 

I am new to this site and wanted to throw something out there, but first I have a disclaimer.

 

**I have been reading several websites/forums looking for specific help. I am sorry if there are already several treads about this.**

 

Greetings!

 

I have been diagnosed with epilepsy from age 1. I have had Gran Mal seizures for 15 years and other types as well. I have had brain surgery to try to help because the amount of meds I have been taking is destroying my liver. The surgery helped a little but seemed to hinder other things (memory, speech). I am still having seizures. My Neurologist wants me to have another surgery. I am getting sick of this throwing meds and surgeries all the time at me. I am looking to try the more natural approach.

 

Marijuana does help me, I want to be legit though.

 

My questions/issues are,

 

I have been looking on several sites and reading several forums and have had a question, What is better, to just go to a "Chain" type clinic for help obtaining a green card, or to find a private physician?

 

My Neurologist is not to kind to the green plant, so should I just start looking for a neurologist that is kind to the plant?

 

I live in the Royal Oak area, I am trying to find Dr is that is helpful in this matter. Or should I just go to a clinic and pay probably more money to get the card?

 

 

I really appreciate everyone's time who had read through this small book i just wrote. **Moderators** I am sorry if I just added to several other posts about this same question.

 

I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Peace

 

-NoMoreMedsPlz-

[Elkisland]

Hello friend. If your regular/family doctor or neurologist wont sign a recommendation for you, a THCF clinic or "Chain" clinic as you called them most certainly will sign it for you. Your condition qualifies. My patient originally signed up with THCF and found a MMJ friendly family doctor later on.

 

I also have a friend who suffers from epilepsy. Are you aware that in many cases Marijuana Edibles are more useful for your condition?

[DetroitPassionCenter]

Please.... Medical Marijuana... Not Pot, that is a horrid name which was given to Cannabis by the haters.

Being in Metro Detroit I would suggest Green Trees http://www.greentreesdetroit.com/ I saw them myself and have sent many others there. They were very helpful and made sure all paperwork was handled correctly. While I was waiting for my appointment there were several people (an Attorney, a Grower, a CG, a CC Club leader) all who spoke for a few minutes and helped give an intro to the whole program.

[dlovas]

Hello All,

 

I am new to this site and wanted to throw something out there, but first I have a disclaimer.

 

**I have been reading several websites/forums looking for specific help. I am sorry if there are already several treads about this.**

 

Greetings!

 

I have been diagnosed with epilepsy from age 1. I have had Gran Mal seizures for 15 years and other types as well. I have had brain surgery to try to help because the amount of meds I have been taking is destroying my liver. The surgery helped a little but seemed to hinder other things (memory, speech). I am still having seizures. My Neurologist wants me to have another surgery. I am getting sick of this throwing meds and surgeries all the time at me. I am looking to try the more natural approach.

 

Marijuana does help me, I want to be legit though.

 

My questions/issues are,

 

I have been looking on several sites and reading several forums and have had a question, What is better, to just go to a "Chain" type clinic for help obtaining a green card, or to find a private physician?

 

My Neurologist is not to kind to the green plant, so should I just start looking for a neurologist that is kind to the plant?

 

I live in the Royal Oak area, I am trying to find Dr is that is helpful in this matter. Or should I just go to a clinic and pay probably more money to get the card?

 

 

I really appreciate everyone's time who had read through this small book i just wrote. **Moderators** I am sorry if I just added to several other posts about this same question.

 

I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Peace

 

-NoMoreMedsPlz-

[dlovas]

Saritta Hines works with a handful of doctors that all work via fax and phone they look over your paperwork and if they deem you wrrantable to get a Blue patient card then they will get you a recommendation. PM me for more info.

[phaquetoo]

Go with the thc clinics. find and mm (pot) friendly dr. later, Im sure you will be changing dr's alot, I am looking for my 3rd since becoming legal,,I was never urine screened until i became a patient, Now I am in search of a back specialist that is weed friendly!

F T W

Peace!

Jim

[Marijane115]

If anyone would like to visit a compassionate, caring physcian, Dr. Ruth Buck with Mid-Michigan's Medical Marijuana can help. We take patient's needs seriously and each patient meets with the doctor and goes over a pretty comprehensive medical evaluation. She is knowledgeable about all things medical marijuana related including alternative ways of ingesting/smoking. Many of our patients are elderly and we see many who have never smoked. She can help you understand your medical conditions, answer questions and better help with your overall health. Our patients leave satisfied that they have had one on one time to go over in detail all of their questions. We don't just process paperwork. We choose to work with each patient individually. If anyone is looking for a doctor who is willing to sit down and take the time with you, call Mid-Michigan's Medical Marijuana Rx. 989-332-4881. We are located in Saginaw but work occassionally in the northern communities as well as the Green Bee Collective in Ann Arbor.

[lawyercaregiver]

It is common that your regular doctor will not sign off on the MM certificate. For example, my specialist doctor does federally financed research and will not sign a cert. My primary care doctor says 'I'm not treating you for that condition....that's the other doctor.'

 

So I go to a "chain" doctor and am perfectly satisfied although $200.00 for a renewal seems steep.

[michiganfootballisawesome]

I'm a really big fan of the Ann Arbor Health Collective if you're ever in the area. They just recently got a doctor on staff and I had a chance to meet the guy the other day when I was in buying meds. He seems like a nice guy who genuinely wants to help people out. Also, they have a deal that if you refer a friend to see their doctor, you get a free gram of meds for yourself. Pretty sweet

[MaryJ]

I was very fortunate I went to my personal Dr. Before I could say I wanted off the Vicodine she took the paper work out of my hands and filled it out. It costed me my copay 25.00 I was the second one she signed.

I check alot of paper work daily and I am noticing more and more cert's with her name on it. When asking the folks that come in what she charged them I ALWAYS get the responce of my office visit or my copay.

Hats off to Dr. Naila Ahmad.

Peace,

Mary J

[Bisharoo]

I am happy that my personal doctor also has compassion and signed my paperwork (for no extra charge as part of a routine office visit) with no problems as he had seen my health decline as my prescriptions increased, but now my health has returned with MMJ and I am off the scripts. My doctor is not MMJ educated, just compassionate. He said he wanted me to try it if I thought it would help, and he is very impressed by the results.

Also, he has agreed to leave the MMJ out of my charts.

I am very, very fortunate to have such a caring doctor.

Good luck to those who are struggling with this point, and there are many of you out there. I am concerned that some people are not getting compassion from their regular docs far too often. I am glad some of these clinics are here to help fill this gap. I hope they will be helpful and honest in their treatment of patients.

[jester]

It is common that your regular doctor will not sign off on the MM certificate. For example, my specialist doctor does federally financed research and will not sign a cert. My primary care doctor says 'I'm not treating you for that condition....that's the other doctor.'

 

So I go to a "chain" doctor and am perfectly satisfied although $200.00 for a renewal seems steep.

i agree $200 is steep. the traveling circus i went through charges $200. an employee told me the doc did 109 certifications over saturday & sunday so 109 patients x $200 = $21800, cash! some folks might call it a racket. still a local doc charges $300. they do because they can. more to do with $$$$$ than compassion. as tony soprano might say, "whata ya gonna do?"

then by the time you get a card its due for renewal in 8 months. so far i'm out $320 (two changes of caregiver so far), 92 days and have yet to buy my first bag.

sorry for the rant.

[lawyercaregiver]

Your story, and many like it, is the reason we need some type of system for coops and/or dispensaries in Michigan. The law CLEARLY envisioned an open distribution system. Obviously you are finding it is not easy to access your legal medication without the ability for caregivers to combine efforts.

[mizerman]

Your story, and many like it, is the reason we need some type of system for coops and/or dispensaries in Michigan. The law CLEARLY envisioned an open distribution system. Obviously you are finding it is not easy to access your legal medication without the ability for caregivers to combine efforts.

Yes. It is difficult to find access to our medication of choice.

 

 

Mizerman

[Captain Obvious]

If you shop around you can do better than $200.

 

The lowest I have seen is $75 and that was a few months ago.

 

Good Luck in you venture.

[Dr. Bob]

Unfortunately you've apparently not been reviewing the posts on the Redden situation and the new standards that are being written as we speak by legitimate certification clinics. The cut rate, no record hotel clinics are not going to be around much longer. I would strongly recommend that you check out any clinic prior to using them. There are several key things you should look for.

 

Does their doctor have a clean Michigan license in good standing and a clear DEA registration? You don't want one of the damaged docs that are selling signatures for cash and wont be able to stand up to cross examination in court.

 

Does your visit include a record review, history, and physical exam, is it like any other doctor visit or more like the DMV- take a number and get your cert.

 

Is a chart started for you and maintained by the clinic? Did you get a copy of your visit note to take to your doctor, or for your own records?

 

What kind of follow up is included with the visit? Come back next year for renewal does not count.

 

If you find someone that will do ALL of this for $75, then by all means go to them. If not, under the Redden decision your card could be voided as there was no 'bona fide' doctor/patient relationship and you could well go to jail for it. What's more, if you go to some signature mill you are undermining the entire certification process by trying to scam the system for a couple of bucks. That gives the entire process a bad name and may well result in more restrictions to how the process is done, which will hurt everyone. Do not support hotel signature mills like the one listed in the opinion. Go to your regular treating physician, and it they can't or wont sign your cert, see a professional certification clinic. There are both fixed based clinics and travel clinics that play by the rules. Check them out before you go.

 

Dr. Bob

www.drbobmmj.com

[jsburn]

doc, when you say, "under the redden decision your card could be voided as there was no bona fide doctor/patient relationship and you could well go to jail for it." STOP FEAR MONGERING! and last time i checked the only DECISION in bobs case was NOT GUILTY. just because the prosecutor wont let it go, is a different story. and second you must bring into account the ordinary people. ie. no insurance, never had insurance, havent been to a doctor in 20 plus years cause some folks dont have it. safe and inexpensive access for all!

[lawyercaregiver]

Dr. Bob speaks the truth!

 

There is a difference between fear mongering and prudence.

 

The Redden Concurring opinion clearly says if you do not have a valid (bona fide) doctor patient relationship- as defined by the courts- you do not have a valid card AND you do NOT have an Affirmative defense. So if you go to a chain clinic that does not do a sufficient physical exam, or does a poor records review you could be royally screwed.

 

We may say the Redden decision is full of crap. We may think it is going to be overturned. But it is the only interpretation of the law in this State on this issue right now. Please be careful and select legitimate medical providers NOT signature whores.

[bobandtorey]

Dr. Bob speaks the truth!

 

There is a difference between fear mongering and prudence.

 

The Redden Concurring opinion clearly says if you do not have a valid (bona fide) doctor patient relationship- as defined by the courts- you do not have a valid card AND you do NOT have an Affirmative defense. So if you go to a chain clinic that does not do a sufficient physical exam, or does a poor records review you could be royally screwed.

 

We may say the Redden decision is full of crap. We may think it is going to be overturned. But it is the only interpretation of the law in this State on this issue right now. Please be careful and select legitimate medical providers NOT signature whores.

 

it sure sounds like you are saying we were not Legal or the court is saying that did i miss something here

 

now don't get me wrong on this am not for a Doctor mill and that is not were we went it sounds like you are saying if you don't go to Doc Bob then they will lock you up lets don't forget that this Law was maid for us the SICK

[MacombCountyCaregiver]

PM me I can help you out

[DT61]

Dr. Nuemann is located in Sterling Heights, he is my Doctor.

[+Silverblue]

Please.... Medical Marijuana... Not Pot, that is a horrid name which was given to Cannabis by the haters.

Being in Metro Detroit I would suggest Green Trees http://www.greentreesdetroit.com/ I saw them myself and have sent many others there. They were very helpful and made sure all paperwork was handled correctly. While I was waiting for my appointment there were several people (an Attorney, a Grower, a CG, a CC Club leader) all who spoke for a few minutes and helped give an intro to the whole program.

I wish there were more clinics like this, and more MM friendly drs.

 

Sb

[bobandtorey]

Unfortunately you've apparently not been reviewing the posts on the Redden situation and the new standards that are being written as we speak by legitimate certification clinics. The cut rate, no record hotel clinics are not going to be around much longer. I would strongly recommend that you check out any clinic prior to using them. There are several key things you should look for.

 

Does their doctor have a clean Michigan license in good standing and a clear DEA registration? You don't want one of the damaged docs that are selling signatures for cash and wont be able to stand up to cross examination in court.

 

Does your visit include a record review, history, and physical exam, is it like any other doctor visit or more like the DMV- take a number and get your cert.

 

Is a chart started for you and maintained by the clinic? Did you get a copy of your visit note to take to your doctor, or for your own records?

 

What kind of follow up is included with the visit? Come back next year for renewal does not count.

 

If you find someone that will do ALL of this for $75, then by all means go to them. If not, under the Redden decision your card could be voided as there was no 'bona fide' doctor/patient relationship and you could well go to jail for it. What's more, if you go to some signature mill you are undermining the entire certification process by trying to scam the system for a couple of bucks. That gives the entire process a bad name and may well result in more restrictions to how the process is done, which will hurt everyone. Do not support hotel signature mills like the one listed in the opinion. Go to your regular treating physician, and it they can't or wont sign your cert, see a professional certification clinic. There are both fixed based clinics and travel clinics that play by the rules. Check them out before you go.

 

Dr. Bob

www.drbobmmj.com

Michigan Court of Appeals judge Peter O’Connell, in a nonbinding opinion in an unrelated medical marijuana case, expressed a take similar to Bouchard’s, taking 30 pages to painstakingly eviscerate the Michigan Marijuana Act. He said it makes no provision for the retail sale of medical marijuana, also noting that another judge called it “one of the worst pieces of legislation I have ever seen in my life.”

 

Cannabis lawyer Matt Abel, who lectured in our class, says of the judge’s dicta, that he’s “going off the deep end. He can write whatever he wants, but it doesn’t mean s—.” All this, Abel says, is a “sop to the Supreme Court to beg them to adopt his crazy-donkey arguments. .  .  . I ain’t afraid of him. He’s full of s—.” just found this

 

 

 

 

[+Silverblue]

As far as I know, in every state there's a board of registration that grants the license to all medical drs to practice, they have to pass that board in order to practice, this board can also revoke a dr's license. Every dr has that document displayed for all to see. Those dr's names are all on file somewhere, right? If that dr is "damaged," wouldn't there be a mark or note by their name on file with the medical board? Wouldn't the health dept have a way of knowing who's a "damaged dr?" even if they hadn't had their license revoked for it, or if they did but cleaned up their act so they could get it reinstated but that "mark" so to speak, would forever be on that dr's record?

 

Also, I'm wondering if a pt goes to a "damaged dr" and gets certified, then the card gets invalidated, what happens to the dr? The dr keeps on going, it seems. I looked up a couple of drs and saw under "disciplinary actions" or something like that, and under that column it'd say something like, "Reprimanded" or "fined" but there's no details. I clicked on each license number, but to get details on any actions against them, we have to ask for them.

 

If the bad dr signs the rec and there's trouble, WHY does the PATIENT go to jail and NOT the dr????

 

In every profession, there's people who do bad things but never lose their jobs, never get fined, and have a spotless record; there are many drs who will protect their colleagues, like in any profession or group of people, (leo's, etc.). My point is, most people wouldn't know any of this, regardless if it's a dr, a leo, or whatever, yet these bad ones are still in business, often, their dirty deeds are well covered up. It seems wrong to put all the burden of proof on the patient. All we wanna do is be well or at least be able to manage our condition and improve our quality of life. We can't know, much less understand, every law, every action against some dr or whoever. What about the pt who sees some dr in an emergency room who's not their regular one, how could they have checked out the dr beforehand? Oh, and they only saw that dr once- does that make it an invalid relationship?? If it's a bad dr, he/she shouldn't even BE there, right? What if someone isn't able to investigate who's in whatever clinic and look into their backgrounds? It's normal to think, "if that dr is there, he/she must be ok," right? What if they did hear a complaint about a clinic, but forgot? What if there's other business that have a similar name, and the person got the 2 places mixed up? Does that prove that person intentionally used a bad dr? Am I making any sense here? I hope so because it's taken me about an hour to write this. I take my time when I write.

 

Sincerely, Sb

[Dr. Bob]

Michigan Court of Appeals judge Peter O’Connell, in a nonbinding opinion in an unrelated medical marijuana case, expressed a take similar to Bouchard’s, taking 30 pages to painstakingly eviscerate the Michigan Marijuana Act. He said it makes no provision for the retail sale of medical marijuana, also noting that another judge called it “one of the worst pieces of legislation I have ever seen in my life.”

 

Cannabis lawyer Matt Abel, who lectured in our class, says of the judge’s dicta, that he’s “going off the deep end. He can write whatever he wants, but it doesn’t mean s—.” All this, Abel says, is a “sop to the Supreme Court to beg them to adopt his crazy-donkey arguments. .  .  . I ain’t afraid of him. He’s full of s—.” just found this

 

the point remains, this is their way of thinking and what we are up against. as it goes through the higher courts, where it may well be overturned, we are left here to deal with it. no, it does not have the power of law, but if you think it will not be cited in the near future in other cases you are being naive. I look at it simply as a call to certification clinics to tighten their game and act more like doctors, not the dmv. overall, it will prompt improvements in the system, and that is good for everyone.

 

Dr. Bob