Six hundred Missouri patients have lost their medical marijuana licenses after regulators determined they submitted physician certification forms submitted by an unauthorized doctor. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) labeled the situation “fraudulent activity.”
Spokeswoman Lisa Cox said the patients, all of whom met with the provider via telemedicine, were unaware of the scheme. “To our knowledge, [the patients] thought they were talking to a real doctor,” she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
She also said the provider with whom the patients met was not the same person whose credentials appear on the certification forms. So far, the department has found only one doctor’s credentials were misused.
“We have no indication this physician was involved in any way,” Cox said. “Just an innocent victim, really.”
DHSS has given affected patients thirty days to submit valid physician certification forms. If they fail to do so, their licenses will be revoked.
The department has referred this case to the state Attorney General’s Office and the Missouri Board of Healing Arts for further action.
To date, Missouri has certified more than 52,600 medical marijuana patients.