First batch of medical cannabis arrives at the children’s hospital in Argentina

The Garrahan National Children’s Hospital of Buenos Aires has just provided the first medical cannabis supply in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

The Argentine health authorities are now granting access to cannabis derivatives for medical, therapeutic and palliative purposes. The first shipment of medical cannabis for pediatric patients with epilepsy to the National Children’s Garrahan Hospital in Buenos Aires has finally been delivered. The delivery was a long-awaited result of Law 27,350. The law was passed in 2017 but was not regulated until November last year.

The young patients in the hospital are now treated with pharmaceutical quality cannabis oil, cleaned and highly concentrated. It is for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy when a person cannot remain seizure-free after two attempts on anti-epileptic drugs.

The medical marijuana will also treat patients with seizures related to Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), Dravet Syndrome (DS), and epilepsy related to tuberous sclerosis. LGS and DS are often resistant to therapy and cause cognitive and behavioral changes.

In over 80 percent of cases, cannabis has been shown to improve the quality of life of patients. The drug also reduces the number of seizures by 60 percent.

Bottles of cannabis oral solution were delivered to the Garrahan National Children’s Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to Sandra Tirado, Secretary for Access to Health, it is “the first time a derivative of nationally produced cannabis” is available to patients. The first delivery of the solution will treat 14 children.

Medical Cannabis Program Coordinator Marcelo Morante said: “The quality of a standardized product in a pathology that really affects the quality of life of our families, accompanied by a doctor or a reference hospital for refractory epilepsy, is the path that will guide us to improve this disabling pathology. “

Medical cannabis will bring comfort not only to patients suffering from frequent, sometimes daily, and severe seizures, but also to their families. According to Roberto Caravallo, chief neurologist at Garrahan Hospital, the new treatment at the hospital will bring “a better quality of life for the child and their family”. Previously, cannabis oil was only available to participants in research protocols in refractory epilepsy.

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Buenos Aires sets the stage for Argentina

In November last year, the Argentine government issued decree 883/2020. It amended Act No. 27,350 on “Medical and Scientific Research into the Medicinal Uses of the Cannabis Plant and Its Derivatives”, which advocates and critics believed lacked inclusiveness. The decree offers patients safe and inclusive access to medical cannabis.

Since the publication of Decree 883/2020, the national government has presented a new bill, “Regulatory Framework for the Development of the Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Industry”. The aim of the regulation is to create a framework for public and private investments in production, commercialization and export.

It also includes scientific research and potential industrial uses, such as food, hygiene products, and more. The ordinance would complement Law No. 27,350, which currently focuses on cannabis for therapeutic purposes, such as its recent use at the Garrahan National Children’s Hospital in Buenos Aires.

At the end of 2020, Argentine citizens with a license will be able to grow medical marijuana from their homes. However, growth without a license can result in four to 16 years in prison.

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Further steps forward have also been made. president Alberto Fernandez even allowed pharmacies to sell cannabis-derived oils and other products. And while medical cannabis was once a costly import for patients, public and private insurance companies now have to pay for patient prescriptions.

It was an uphill battle that proponents in Argentina won. “We have been fighting for it for three years,” said Valeria Salech, the head of Mamá Cultiva, an Argentine organization that promotes medical marijuana. “We are no longer criminalized because we are looking for a better quality of life for ourselves and our loved ones.”