MC is already available to patients under the Special Access Scheme for the treatment of pain in chronic conditions (such as cancer etc). Substantial clinical trials have already been undertaken overseas on MC use with numerous successful end points achieved.
The science is not the issue here. It is the TGA approving products for their function and then permitting access to those products based on doctor requests. The sooner we have the finished final form product that delivers a stable and controlled dosage, the sooner product approval can be secured.
Request approval for MC under the SAS has been growing fast. It's a boom medical field.
A breakdown of the number of SAS Category B approvals by month for the previous 12 months, a 1800% increase or so YoY :
| Month | Number of SAS Category B approvals |
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1 | February 2018 | 37 |
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2 | March 2018 | 54 |
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3 | April 2018 | 89 |
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4 | May 2018 | 132 |
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5 | June 2018 | 146 |
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6 | July 2018 | 188 |
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7 | August 2018 | 229 |
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8 | September 2018 | 237 |
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9 | October 2018 | 331 |
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10 | November 2018 | 567 |
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11 | December 2018 | 491 |
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12 | January 2019 | 672 |
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