State Medical Board Hassles Prop. 215 Doctors
Frustrated by their inability to prosecute Prop. 215 patients, authorities are taking aim at a handful of doctors who make a practice of writing recommendations for medical marijuana.
At the behest of law enforcement, the Medical Board of California has launched investigations of four leading Prop. 215 specialists, who together account for up to 20,000 recommendations in the state. They include Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a Berkeley psychiatrist and noted proponent of medical cannabis; Dr. Stephen Ellis, who operates a walk-in clinic in San Francisco; Dr. William Eidelman of Santa Monica, the leading Prop. 215 practitioner in Southern California; and Dr. Mollie Fry, whose El Dorado clinic was raided by the DEA.
Unlike many medical board cases, complaints haven't come from patients or relatives alleging malpractice, but from hostile sheriffs and DA's upset at what they see as the overly free availability of medical excuses for marijuana suspects. They allege that the doctors have failed to provide adequate examinations and to maintain a proper, ongoing doctor-patient relationship.
A top target is Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a well know Prop. 215 practitioner who has issued some 6,300 patient recommendations. The Board has ordered investigations regarding 47 of Dr. Mikuriya's patients pursuant to complaints from sheriffs of rural counties hostile to Prop. 215. Mikuriya complains that the Board itself is guilty of "institutional malpractice" and is in violation of Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 (c) which explicitly protects physicians who recommend marijuana.
The Board is also investigating Dr. Eidelman, who was raided by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies after writing recommendations to two agents posing as patients. One decoy told Eidelman that if he didn't use marijuana, he felt terrible, couldn't sleep, and was irritable, though he didn't really have a medical problem. Taking this as a diagnosis for clinical depression, Dr. Eidelman issued a recommendation. Shortly thereafter, his office was raided and all of his patient files seized. A court subsequently ordered his files to be returned, except for those on the two undercover agents. No criminal charges were filed, and Dr. Eidelman is continuing to practice medicine.
Dr. Ellis, who runs a walk-in medical marijuana clinic in San Francisco, is under fire for advertising in newspapers. His practice was the target of a recent TV documentary by KTVU in Oakland, which charged that pot doctors are creating a "loophole" in the law and that "marijuana is getting to people who don't really need it." To prove the point, a KTVU reporter went to Dr. Ellis' office, put down $200 cash, received a recommendation for a minor sports knee injury, got a city of Oakland patient I.D., and proceeded to buy an eighth of pot at a nearby club.
Dr. Ellis responds that he is delivering a needed service. "My being there is the ultimate statement of the failure of medicine in California," he told KTVU, "it's almost impossible for patients to get an evaluation and recommendation."
Other medical marijuana advocates complained that lax recommendation practices could jeopardize access for the seriously ill, "It would be detrimental to all of us if we let doctors' ethical standards slide," said Jim Green of the Market Street Club, who refuses to honor recommendations from Ellis or Mikuriya.
Another fear is that narcotics agents can easily exploit the doctors' recommendations to buy pot and bust the clubs. Santa Monica police made use of recommendations from Dr. Eidelman to bust the Comfort Care Group, a dispensary run by patient Steve Corchado. His facility is now closed, and Corchado is facing charges of cultivation and distribution.
In a few cases, the Medical Board has pursued complaints against doctors who are not mainly Prop. 215 specialists. Dr. Stephen Banister, a respected Grass Valley family practitioner, was fined and sanctioned for a couple of minor violations regarding medical marijuana recommendations on the complaint of law enforcement. Dr. Banister has resumed his practice under probation and is continuing to see medical marijuana patients.
California NORML cautions patients not to rely on recommendations based on a single, drop-in visit, but to maintain an established, ongoing record of treatment.
(California NORML Reports, Dec 2001)
