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The Medicinal Cannabis Expert Working Group (MCEWG) met for its third meeting in Melbourne on Wednesday 16 October 2024. The MCEWG membership is comprised of experts in the medicinal cannabis field including general practitioners, consumer and industry representatives and specialists in pharmacy, mental health and pain management.
MCEWG discussion
The following topics were discussed:
- The clinical guidance documents on the use of medicinal cannabis currently published on the TGA website. In 2017 the TGA undertook the development of medicinal cannabis clinical guidance documents due to the limited guidance material to support the implementation of the medicinal cannabis patient access scheme in 2016. Members noted that generally the clinical guidance remains relevant to clinicians, however supported the need to undertake a review to ensure the documents continue to support current prescribing practice in Australia. Work is ongoing in this space.
- Health impacts of high potency Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) medicinal cannabis products available under the Special Access Scheme (SAS) and Authorised Prescriber (AP) scheme. An update was provided on a research project pertaining to the efficacy and safety of higher THC concentration Category 5 medicinal cannabis products, this project is continuing.
- CSIRO was invited to present the use of the Australian Medical Terminology (AMT) system for medicinal cannabis products. It was noted that AMT was primarily developed to be used in clinical software applications to facilitate interoperability between systems. Members discussed the importance of AMT coding for safe prescribing and dispensing. Members agreed that future work should include consideration of AMT coding for all medicinal cannabis products.
Next meeting
The next MCEWG meeting will be held in February 2025.