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Doctors have the opportunity to petition the Medical Products Agency to prescribe medical cannabis to patients with severe pain where other pain relievers do not work. The number of applications has increased considerably in recent years, according to statistics from the Medical Products Agency, which Göteborgs-Posten has read.
In Sweden, the only approved drug that contains medicinal cannabis oral spray is Sativex, which was prescribed to 426 patients last year. That’s doubling the number of prescriptions in four years.
Licensed foreign cannabis products
Sweden, on the other hand, does not have an approved drug that contains cannabis plant parts. However, as the preparations are registered in other countries, the Medical Products Agency can still grant permits for these after so-called individual physician license applications.
The licensing system exists so that patients do not run out of drugs that are approved in other countries but not in Sweden. When other forms of treatment have been tried and there is reason to believe that the patient will benefit from such a drug, a license may be granted.
In 2017, 18 patients were granted a permit with a supposed license; the corresponding figure last year was 81 permits and during the first half of this year, so far 52 patients have agreed to use such preparations. So far, the Medical Products Agency has given permission for the use of five different cannabis products.
