Ohio's emergency telemedicine COVID-19 rules will expire. What happens next?
Anytime Peter LaFontaine leaves his house to go practically anywhere, he has to emotionally prepare himself. He carries anxiety medication in his pocket because simply carrying it calms him a bit. He tries to do some heavy breathing.
"I have to muster up courage," said the Batavia resident, who said he suffers from agoraphobia, which can come with panic attacks. "I sometimes sit in the car for 10 minutes before I even go inside the dispensary."
So when the State Medical Board of Ohio, thanks to COVID-19, lifted a requirement in March 2020 that Ohioans must go in-person for a doctor to prescribe a drug or renew medical marijuana cards, it was a huge relief.
"Quite honestly, it felt better, because I didn't have to be face-to-face," said LaFontaine, who's been a patient in Ohio's medical marijuana program since 2018 to treat chronic pain from a car accident. "You could do it from the comfort of your house, you don't have to go out. You don't have to worry about the anxiety."
Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/drugs/2021/08/16/telemedicine-drug-prescriptions-marijuana-physicians-ohio-remote-medical-board-overdose-in-person/5512128001/
(Columbus Dispatch)