At the beginning of April, the Health Data Authority announced that 1,384 citizens in Denmark had prescriptions written out for medicinal cannabis covered by the trial scheme in 2018. Further, the Authority announced that 1,211 citizens had chosen to present their prescriptions in that period.
More than half of the citizens had prescriptions for medicinal cannabis written out and presented in the last quarter of 2018. The reason for this substantial increase may be due to the fact that more products containing cannabis have entered the Danish market.
The publication further shows that:
- Doctors in all regions prescribe medicinal cannabis.
- Region Zealand has the largest sale of cannabis products covered by the trial scheme.
- Most prescriptions for cannabis are related to patients with nerve pains.
PUBLICATION OF REPORT ON SIDE-EFFECTS
At the same time, the Danish Medicines Agency has published a report Reporting of side-effects from cannabis products covered by the trial scheme. The report shows that, in 2018, the Danish Medicines Agency received 21 reports on assumed side-effects of medicinal cannabis used in connection with the trial scheme.
Further, the report reviews the reported side-effects, and the Danish Medicines Agency gives its assessment as to whether there is a possible connection between the reported symptoms and the use of medicinal cannabis.
Based on the reported side-effects, it is the Danish Medicines Agency's opinion that there are no safety issues in relation to medicinal cannabis. The reports have also not given rise to initiation of measures to minimize the risk of the products containing cannabis.