title: "But my doctor recommended pot": medical marijuana and the patient-physician relationship.
abstract: As the use of medical marijuana expands, it is important to consider its implications for the patient-physician relationship. In Colorado, a small cohort of physicians is recommending marijuana, with 15 physicians registering 49% of all medical marijuana patients and a single physician registering 10% of all patients. Together, they have registered more than 2% of the state to use medical marijuana in the last three years. We are concerned that this dramatic expansion is occurring in a setting rife with conflicts of interest despite insufficient scientific knowledge about marijuana. This system diminishes the patient-physician relationship to the recommendation of a single substance while unburdening physicians of their usual responsibilities to the welfare of their patients.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Health, Denver Health, Denver, CO 80220, USA. Abraham.Nussbaum@dhha.org
authors.forename: Abraham M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Nussbaum
authors.forename: Jonathan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Boyer
authors.forename: Elin C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Kondrad
mesh_terms: D002188:Cannabis; D003120:Colorado; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008517:Phytotherapy; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations