N.Y. Public Health Law 3361 – Certification of patients
* § 3361. Certification of patients. 1. A patient certification may only be issued if: (a) a practitioner has been registered with the department to issue a certification as determined by the commissioner; (b) the patient has a serious condition, which shall be specified in the patient's health care record; (c) the practitioner by training or experience is qualified to treat the serious condition; (d) the patient is under the practitioner's continuing care for the serious condition; and (e) in the practitioner's professional opinion and review of past treatments, the patient is likely to receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the primary or adjunctive treatment with medical use of marihuana for the serious condition.
Terms Used In N.Y. Public Health Law 3361
- Certification: means a certification, made under section thirty-three hundred sixty-one of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Certified medical use: means the acquisition, possession, use, or, transportation of medical marihuana by a certified patient, or the acquisition, possession, delivery, transportation or administration of medical marihuana by a designated caregiver, for use as part of the treatment of the patient's serious condition, as authorized in a certification under this title including enabling the patient to tolerate treatment for the serious condition. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Certified patient: means a patient who is a resident of New York state or receiving care and treatment in New York state as determined by the commissioner in regulation, and is certified under section thirty-three hundred sixty-one of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Commissioner: means commissioner of health of the state of New York. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302
- Controlled substance: means a substance or substances listed in section thirty-three hundred six of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302
- Department: means the department of health of the state of New York. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302
- Drug: means
(a) substances recognized as drugs in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them;
(b) substances intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals; and
(c) substances (other than food) intended to affect the structure or a function of the body of man or animal. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302 - Federal registration number: means such number assigned by the Federal agency to any person authorized to manufacture, distribute, sell, dispense or administer controlled substances. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302
- Form of medical marihuana: means characteristics of the medical marihuana recommended or limited for a particular certified patient, including the method of consumption and any particular strain, variety, and quantity or percentage of marihuana or particular active ingredient. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Medical marihuana: means marihuana as defined in subdivision twenty-one of section thirty-three hundred two of this article, intended for a certified medical use, as determined by the commissioner in his or her sole discretion. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Practitioner: means a practitioner who (i) is a physician licensed by New York state and practicing within the state, (ii) who by training or experience is qualified to treat a serious condition as defined in subdivision seven of this section; and (iii) has completed a two to four hour course as determined by the commissioner in regulation and registered with the department; provided however, a registration shall not be denied without cause. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Prescription: shall mean an official New York state prescription, an electronic prescription, an oral prescription or an out-of-state prescription. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302
- prescription monitoring program registry: means the prescription monitoring program registry established pursuant to section thirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this article. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3302
- Registry identification card: means a document that identifies a certified patient or designated caregiver, as provided under section thirty-three hundred sixty-three of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Serious condition: means :
(i) having one of the following severe debilitating or life-threatening conditions: cancer, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, Huntington's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, pain that degrades health and functional capability where the use of medical marihuana is an alternative to opioid use, substance use disorder, or as added by the commissioner; and
(ii) any of the following conditions where it is clinically associated with, or a complication of, a condition under this paragraph or its treatment: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe or chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures; severe or persistent muscle spasms; or such conditions as are added by the commissioner. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360 - Special certification: means a special certification made under subdivision nine of section thirty-three hundred sixty-one of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
- Terminally ill: means an individual has a medical prognosis that the individual's life expectancy is approximately one year or less if the illness runs its normal course. See N.Y. Public Health Law 3360
2. The certification shall include (a) the name, date of birth and address of the patient; (b) a statement that the patient has a serious condition and the patient is under the practitioner's care for the serious condition; (c) a statement attesting that all requirements of subdivision one of this section have been satisfied; (d) the date; and (e) the name, address, federal registration number, telephone number, and the handwritten signature of the certifying practitioner. The commissioner may require by regulation that the certification shall be on a form provided by the department. The practitioner may state in the certification that, in the practitioner's professional opinion, the patient would benefit from medical marihuana only until a specified date. The practitioner may state in the certification that, in the practitioner's professional opinion, the patient is terminally ill and that the certification shall not expire until the patient dies.
3. In making a certification, the practitioner shall consider the form of medical marihuana the patient should consume, including the method of consumption and any particular strain, variety, and quantity or percentage of marihuana or particular active ingredient, and appropriate dosage. The practitioner shall state in the certification any recommendation or limitation the practitioner makes, in his or her professional opinion, concerning the appropriate form or forms of medical marihuana and dosage.
4. Every practitioner shall consult the prescription monitoring drug program registry prior to making or issuing a certification, for the purpose of reviewing a patient's controlled substance history. For purposes of this section, a practitioner may authorize a designee to consult the prescription monitoring program registry on his or her behalf, provided that such designation is in accordance with section thirty-three hundred forty-three-a of this article.
5. The practitioner shall give the certification to the certified patient, and place a copy in the patient's health care record.
6. No practitioner shall issue a certification under this section for himself or herself.
7. A registry identification card based on a certification shall expire one year after the date the certification is signed by the practitioner.
8. (a) If the practitioner states in the certification that, in the practitioner's professional opinion, the patient would benefit from medical marihuana only until a specified earlier date, then the registry identification card shall expire on that date;
(b) If the practitioner states in the certification that in the practitioner's professional opinion the patient is terminally ill and that the certification shall not expire until the patient dies, then the registry identification card shall state that the patient is terminally ill and that the registration card shall not expire until the patient dies;
(c) If the practitioner re-issues the certification to terminate the certification on an earlier date, then the registry identification card shall expire on that date and shall be promptly returned by the certified patient to the department;
(d) If the certification so provides, the registry identification card shall state any recommendation or limitation by the practitioner as to the form or forms of medical marihuana or dosage for the certified patient; and
(e) The commissioner shall make regulations to implement this subdivision.
9.(a) A certification may be a special certification if, in addition to the other requirements for a certification, the practitioner certifies in the certification that the patient's serious condition is progressive and degenerative or that delay in the patient's certified medical use of marihuana poses a serious risk to the patient's life or health.
(b) The department shall create the form to be used for a special certification and shall make that form available to be downloaded from the department's website.
* NB Repealed July 5, 2028 and Repealed 6 months after the full cannabis control board created by Article 2 of the cannabis law has been appointed