Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1403381
23 cannapatientcare.com august 2021 | cannabis patient care nurse focus recommend descheduling since 1988. Yet, we're still fighting to have it removed," Champagne commented. To be in the Schedule I class, the subject needs to be harm- ful, addictive, and have no accepted medical use. In the 5000 years of medical cannabis use, there have not been any deaths. The plant is even less addictive than items such as sugar and caffeine which are freely available. "Our very own government holds patents for cannabis as medicine like number 6630507 is a pretty popular one. Obviously, it's just pure hypocrisy that cannabis is scheduled at all, and the Schedule 1 placement is not in the best interest of patients," said Champagne. Finding the Right Medical Cannabis Product No two living organisms are the same. Everyone is created to be different and through those differences, our bodies react differently to the things we put in them. Like pharmaceuticals don't always cause the same side effects, cannabis works divisively as well. There is a lot of research supporting canna- bis and cannabinoids in the medical field. CBD is among the more popular cannabinoids used in treating medical condi- tions. Champagne explained that not everyone responds to CBD. In these cases, patients are pointed towards trying other cannabinoids such as, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) or cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). "I always encourage looking for products that have a terpene profile that's really conducive to targeting seizures, like myrcene, which helps cross the blood brain barrier according to research, or linalool, which has research-supported anti-seizure properties in its own right. Those can be really beneficial terpenes to look for in a canna- bis product to target seizures," said Champagne. Research has shown that whole plant spectrum formulations are the prime option for treating seizures (2). Some isolates or products are processed in ways where they are stripped of the hundreds of compounds found in the cannabis flower. Re- search studies experimenting with CBD have demonstrated how the cannabinoid avoids the psychoactive effects of the endo- cannabinoid system to provide a well-tolerated and promising therapeutic alternative for the treatment of seizures. As canna- bis begins to receive more research funding, further data can be discovered on how the cannabis plant can be used to help seizure disorder patients and potentially allow them to live sei- zure-free, thereby improving their quality of life. Guiding the Patient Along in the Process When Champagne taught patients, she started with a compre- hensive assessment of their individual situation. This included screening for any pharmaceuticals being used, to create a targeted education plan. It's important to review medications, because interactions with pharma are possible, and combined too closely they may impact the effect of cannabis. "Education ensures that patients are empowered with evidence-based and research-supported facts, so they know what is bound to be optimal for their specific needs. It's so important that patients have that autonomy to make their own wellness decisions and have the ability and are educated enough to make a well-in- formed decision," said Champagne. "We also produced a patient handbook that provides a lot of general guidance and a journal for patient response tracking. We really taught them how to ap- proach it. What products they might want to start with in their experimentation, plus a bunch of tools to help them track their response and really figure out what is the best regimen for their specific needs." Unfortunately with cannabis, it can be difficult some times to find coverage to help with the costs. There are a lot of patients who pay out-of-pocket for their treatments. Champagne hopes this will change in the future but for now, she is working with her partner in Holistic Caring, Elizabeth Mack, MBA, RN, Found- er of Holistic Caring, who has a history as a nurse in insurance companies. At this time, there are some Health Savings Ac- counts (HSAs) that will reimburse patients for their cannabis. Champagne is also a founding member of the Canna- bis Nurses Network (3)—an organization that helps canna- bis nurses through accreditation, education, recognition, and advocacy effor ts. The institution has an advocacy com- mittee where patients can seek guidance and tr y to get re- imbursement from their insurance companies. Dealing with insurance companies is not a simple process. Oftentimes, patients have to submit a bill and the insurance can deny it, after which patients can appeal it and take the decision to higher levels to tr y and have the situation end up in their fa- vor. "Sometimes it's helpful when patients can present a list of pharmaceuticals that they were able to discontinue on be- half of having star ted cannabis and the cost of those com- pared with the cost of the cannabis. That can be a way that patients can sor t of advocate for their own insurance reim- bursement," she noted. Next Level Patient Guidance: Cannabis Nurses Approved and Integrated Holistic Care Champagne's passion to follow patients' needs led to the inspiration for Cannabis Nurses Approved (4)—a group of can- nabis-specialty nurses who work with patients and help guide them to find optimal products for medical use by screening cannabis suppliers to ensure they meet criteria for medical quality. She realized that a profound number of cannabis patients need to understand how the very extensive options of retail cannabis products differ, and how to choose among those products for the optimal therapeutic use. The organization nev- er benefitted from the sales of any product and did not accept commissions because they felt it was important that they were objective educators to patients. Any information they provided was supported by scientific research.