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| Oregon Marijuana Doctor Under Scrutiny |
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Posted by FoM on February 20, 2002 at 08:10:07 PT By Andrew Kramer, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press 
Karel Redeker touches a lighter to the bowl of a water pipe and inhales a puff of marijuana smoke. She is breaking no law: The 33-year-old has a doctor's approval to get high. But the physician who authorized her to smoke medical marijuana is surrounded by a cloud of controversy because health officials say he is too generous with his signature.Dr. Phillip Leveque, 78, has approved medical marijuana for 1,718 patients -- more than 40 percent of all doctor-approved applications since Oregon's medical marijuana law took effect three years ago. The state says he's approved medical marijuana without conducting the required physicals -- in many cases after other doctors turned down the patients. The board of Medical Examiners has charged Leveque with unprofessional conduct and put him on notice that his license to practice medicine could be revoked or suspended. But the semiretired osteopath says he is doing nothing illegal under Oregon and federal laws. He said Oregon's law did not originally require that he personally see patients before approving medical marijuana. Leveque also said many patients live so far away that it's been difficult for him to see them. Leveque said his sole motivation is alleviating pain. About 150 of his patients are Vietnam and Gulf War veterans suffering from chronic pain, he said. "These people are sick, disabled and destitute. Who am I to say 'Oh, you just want to get high,'" Leveque said. For Redeker, Leveque's signature means she can get marijuana to help alleviate the back pain she still feels from being struck by a car three years ago. When a doctor refused to sign papers that would enable her to get the marijuana, Redeker turned to Leveque. "A patient says it hurts, Doctor Leveque's inclined to believe you," she said. Leveque does not charge patients. He asks them to contribute to Voter Power -- a group that was instrumental in getting the medical marijuana initiative on Oregon's ballot in 1998 -- or help offset some of his legal expenses, which he says have reached about $10,000. Patients typically donate from $50 to $100, he said. Oregon is among eight states that allow the use of marijuana as medicine. The others are California, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Colorado. Leveque says he approves applications if he is convinced a patient has a condition such as AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma, as allowed under Oregon's voter-approved Medical Marijuana Act. But the board of Medical Examiners may shut him down. The board has ordered Leveque to undergo physical and psychological exams to determine his competency to practice medicine, which he said he would do. In response to Leveque's practice, state health regulators also have tightened the rules for approving medical marijuana cards. Now doctors must perform a physical exam before approving a card, and also must maintain up-to-date files on their patients. Leveque has attracted the board's attention before. In 1987, his federal license to subscribe drugs was revoked for 10 years after the board found he oversubscribed pain killers, said Kathleen Haley, director of the medical board. John Sajo, director of Voter Power, maintains the real issue is state regulators don't like Oregon's medical marijuana law. "What we have here is hundreds and hundreds of patients saying he's a life saver. Almost every single one of them talks about how much better their life is." Under Oregon's law, there is no limit on the number of medical marijuana applications a doctor can sign. All patients need to do is get a doctor's signature on the application and send it along with $150 to the state. Patients can then either grow their own marijuana -- up to three mature plants and four immature plants -- or have a "caregiver" grow it for them. Leveque says he is providing a necessary service that most Oregon doctors are reluctant to provide. Scrutiny from Oregon health officials has done little to slow Leveque's practice. He said he has up to 1,000 patients waiting for exams. "If they have one of the conditions, I feel no hesitation in signing their applications," he said. On the Net: Voter Power: http://www.voterpower.org Oregon Department of Human Services: http://www.hr.state.or.us Source: Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites: Medical Marijuana Information Links Molalla Doctor Facing Discipline Medicinal Pot Is Doctor's Specialty Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 22, 2002 at 22:11:16 PT |
| CNN's The Point Transcript: Dr Phillip Leveque http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0202/11/tpt.00.html COOPER: And welcome back to THE POINT. Now, if you are in chronic, unrelenting pain Dr. Phillip Leveque could be your best friend. Oregon has a law allowing people with debilitating conditions like cancer or glaucoma or AIDS to legally use marijuana. But get this, of the 2,000 Oregonians who have gotten permission, roughly half were approved by Dr. Leveque. Is this a man a doctor feel good? Or is he willing to go where others will not in order to relieve pain? Dr. Phillip Leveque joins us now from Portland. Good evening. Thanks for being with us Dr. Leveque. DR. PHILLIP LEVEQUE, THE "POT" DOCTOR: You're very welcome. Glad to be here. COOPER: All right. I have to start by asking you've granted 49.7 percent of Oregon's medical marijuana cards since this law was enacted almost three years ago. Why so many? LEVEQUE: Because approximately 7,500 doctors in Oregon have not even signed one application. COOPER: Why is that? LEVEQUE: They're afraid of George Bush. They're afraid of John Ashcroft. And they are afraid of the Oregon board of medical examiners. COOPER: Well, the Oregon board of medical examiners has now sanctioned you, and in April it will be considering what their ruling is going to be. Why do you think they are targeting you? LEVEQUE: Well, I really don't understand that because the Oregon medical marijuana law says that the physicians should look at the patient's previous medical records, and their own personal medical history and it doesn't say that the physician has to see the patient and it doesn't say that the doctor has to do a physical examination on the patient. And the fact of the pat matter is for the first 900 patients for whom I signed, I did not do a physical examination on. And many, well, I won't say many that I didn't see, but I do not require quadriplegic, paraplegic multiple sclerosis, epileptics, cerebral palsy, blind patients to actually come to see me. And -- COOPER: But, doctor, some would say that seems somewhat questionable. I mean, whether it's on the books as the law or not, it does seem common sense that a doctor should perhaps see the patient, before prescribing medicine to that patient. LEVEQUE: Please understand, no physician in the United States can prescribe marijuana, and I do not prescribe marijuana. COOPER: Okay. But -- LEVEQUE: "The New York Times" article was incorrect in that statement. No doctor in the United States can prescribe marijuana and I do not. COOPER: Right. But you signed prescription cards for these patients? LEVEQUE: No, I don't. COOPER: New -- LEVEQUE: That is false also. What I do, if the patient has one of the nine medical conditions authorized by the state of Oregon, and please understand that it's the state of Oregon who names these nine medical conditions, the way the law was set up, if a patient has one of those nine medical conditions. All they have to do is go to their regular doctor and say, doctor, I have one of these nine medical conditions, will you please sign my application? They won't do it. They're afraid of whatever. COOPER: Do you think most doctors are not willing to do deal with chronic pain? I mean, I understand -- LEVEQUE: Oh, that's true too. Absolutely. Yes. COOPER: I understand, though, that you are sanctioned in the past, that you're actually on probation for 10 years for prescribing pain medication inappropriately in the medical board's opinion. LEVEQUE: That was their opinion. I taught pharmacology and toxicology for over 30 years. If I don't know what the effects of these drugs are, I don't think think anybody else does either. Now, what happen to me was, I graduated from medical school at the age of 54. The last -- the last three years that I was a medical school professor, I was a full-time professor and a full-time student at the osteopathic school in Des Moines, Iowa. And I was a new boy on the block and the new boy on the block. And the new boy on the block gets all of the difficult patients that no other doctor wants to see. And I did have about 30 severely pained patients, chronic pain patients that other doctors literally dumped on me. Go to see that guy. So I was taking care of about 30 severely chronic pain patients. COOPER: Doctor, what do you think is going to happen to you? The medical board can either revoke your license, they can restrict your practice, they can fine you or some combination of all those? LEVEQUE: I have really no idea. I have -- the regulations controlling me as a physician, signing applications are very specific. COOPER: But my understanding, though, is that you have not kept records for some 900 patients? LEVEQUE: That's not true either. That's not true either.
COOPER: No? LEVEQUE: The two forms -- the two forms that the medical marijuana office sends to the patients. One of them is called the patient application form and the other, the attending physician statement. And that is the medical record that I had, that was the only one which was required. And I sent that medical record to the medical marijuana office is what they wanted me to do. So I did send them their medical records that they demanded. COOPER: All right, Dr. Leveque. I'm afraid that is all the time we have tonight. The state board will determine in April what exactly they are going to do, if anything, and we appreciate you being here to talk about your case on THE POINT. LEVEQUE: Very good. Thank you very much. COOPER: Thanks very much. Coming up, a look behind Olympic glory. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on February 20, 2002 at 16:45:32 PT |
| How many prescriptions does a doctor like Leveque prescribe normally? I mean, do his colleagues regularly prescribe the same amount of, say, Xanax, Prozac, Ritalin, etc. I wondered, because I saw this creep across the bottom of the CNN ticker yesterday, and I thought to myself - criminy! Of all the marijuana news that could be on CNN, they have to give one sentence to this article and make it look like a black and white issue, like they just busted a dirty doctor, when in fact he's the only one brave enough to try to follow the new laws, which is why he has all the patients. At least do a full story on it! [ Post Comment ] |
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