Therapy option: Medical cannabis

For which diseases can medical cannabis be prescribed? And in which situations do the health insurance companies cover the costs? A brief summary of the most important points.

Medicinal cannabis is used to treat pain, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and other conditions. It can be prescribed if no approved treatment alternatives are available, previous treatments have not been sufficiently effective or have not been tolerated. Under these conditions, the statutory health insurance funds cover the costs for the treatment of serious diseases with medical cannabis.

It is not prescribed by default because there are fewer clinical trials of medical cannabis compared to other treatment options. Such studies are important in medicine in order to assess the efficacy and risks of a product. There are many different medical cannabis preparations with different levels of THC and CBD from which the physician can choose when deciding to prescribe a medical cannabis preparation.

Alternatively, buying cannabis yourself is illegal in Germany. In addition, medical cannabis is produced under controlled conditions and guarantees the user high quality. Cannabis that is not approved for medical purposes and non-prescribed cannabis does not meet these requirements and reimbursement by health insurance companies is also excluded. In addition, cannabis has addictive potential. When prescribing medical cannabis, your doctor will point out the potential for addiction and try to keep the risk as low as possible.

Further information on this topic can be found in our FAQs.