Sick kids on state government’s medicinal cannabis trial abandoning treatment

MORE than a third of children receiving medicinal cannabis from the Victorian Government have discontinued their taxpayer funded treatment after the drugs failed to work.

MORE than a third of children receiving medicinal cannabis from the Victorian government have abandoned the ­taxpayer-funded treatment after the drugs failed to work.

Thirteen out of 34 children have left the program since it officially kicked off in March 2017, with only 21 remaining on board.

The alarming exodus was raised in state parliament, where the Health Department revealed most families had discontinued treatment “due to a lack of clinical response”.

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However, Health Minister Jill Hennessy backed the program, saying the government was unfazed by the results.
“... Of advice that I was given was that for about a third, it did not make a difference, for about a third it improved their quality of life and for about the other third it was kind of like the jury is out,’’ she told the panel.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy continues to back the treatment, saying it has ‘enormous impacts’ on some lives. Picture: David Crosling

She also confirmed one young girl had died while in the program but maintained it was due to her condition and not the medicinal cannabis.

The much-hyped Andrews Government initiative will gobble up $28 million in funding over four years. The cost includes supporting patient access, providing advice to clinicians, development of the local industry and $1 million to import the product from Canada.

Depending on the dosage, the medicine itself is worth between $40,000 and $50,000 per year for each child.

Opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge said it was concerning the state was “spending tens of millions of dollars for virtually no benefit”.

“This is another Labor stunt that used sick, vulnerable kids for his political gain but with no benefit to their wellbeing,’’ she said.

Opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge has called the trial another Labor stunt. Picture: Steve Tanner

Cooper Wallace, 7, is the face of the Andrews Government campaign and is one of the few success stories of the trial after his seizures halved since going on the legal drug.

However, his mother, Cassie Batten, said many families had been left bitter about the narrow range of medicinal products on offer. “It would be good to see them offer different products. I would like to see it extended,’’ she said.

“It is the same as medication — some people respond, some don’t. There is a lot of debate about the legal versus illegal, some (parents) get quite aggressive about it.”

The Herald Sun understands some families have privately flagged returning to cannabis oil from the black market in a desperate bid to help their children.

The results come after a top Victorian research expert said cannabis had not been the miracle drug they had hoped.

Cassie Batten with her son Cooper who is one of the medicinal cannabis trial success stories. Picture: Mike Keating

Paediatric neurologist Professor Ingrid Scheffer told the Herald Sun last year results appeared to be no better than conventional drugs for treating children with severe epilepsy.

Ms Hennessy continues to back the treatment, saying it has “enormous impacts” on some lives.

The government is also pushing ahead with plans to expand the program to treat 60 children.

“This program is about giving some of our sickest kids the treatment they so desperately need,’’ she said.

“We’ve seen through the program that medicinal cannabis has made enormous impacts on the lives of young Victorians who experience life-threatening seizures that weren’t able to be controlled by other medicines previously.”

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