Adviser Winter 2019-20 LeadingAge New York Adviser LeadingAge NewYork Winter 2019-20 | Page 22

Feature
Innovative Improvements in Quality of
Life for Aging New Yorkers
By: Dana Walsh Sivak, Sr. Associate, Genser Cona Elder Law
T
225 Broad Hollow Road
Suite 200
Melville, NY 11747
www.genserlaw.com
he past decade has offered new opportunities for aging New Yorkers to improve their
quality of life using outside-the-box thinking. Seniors have sought to take control
of their own health and explore new and innovative treatments to address their medical
conditions while minimizing side effects and optimizing their quality of life.
No greater evidence of this can be found than in the increasing number of seniors enrolling
in New York’s Medical Marijuana Program as certified patients, taking advantage of the
opportunity to treat their maladies with medical cannabis. With the 2014 passage of the
Compassionate Care Act in New York, patients can now avail themselves of a natural, gentler
treatment that has been shown to have great efficacy in the older population to address
serious health conditions such as chronic pain, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
Since the Compassionate Care Act was implemented, more than 98,000 patients have signed
up to partake in medical cannabis treatment, with patients in the 51-60 age group accounting
for the largest demographic of medical cannabis users in the state and substantial numbers
of users represented in the 61-70 and 71+ demographics as well. Additionally, the number
of new participants has increased each quarter, suggesting that the program will continue to
expand to reach more and more New Yorkers as the years go on.
One landmark medical marijuana program for residents of a skilled nursing facility continues
to thrive at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, where Medical Director Dr. Zachary Palace
oversees and facilitates medical cannabis treatment to patients suffering from medical
conditions identified as “qualifying conditions” under the law. Dr. Palace has shared
anecdotal evidence to support the success of the program, including a reduction in residents’
reliance on opioids for chronic pain and a marked reduction in seizure activity due to
medical cannabis treatment. The results are encouraging, and it is not surprising that more
seniors are expressing interest in using medical cannabis – especially in health care facilities.
Will more skilled nursing and
assisted living facilities take note
Since the Compassionate Care Act
and offer similar programs? One
was implemented, more than 98,000
can only hope that in the next 10
years, this will become the norm
patients have signed up to partake
rather than the exception, in light
in medical cannabis treatment,
of the benefits derived by residents
participating in the program at the
with patients in the 51-60 age group
Hebrew Home. Of course, even
accounting for the largest demographic
where health care facilities may be
supportive of creating a medical
of medical cannabis users in the state
marijuana program, the true barrier
and substantial numbers of users
to access to medical cannabis lies in
its unaffordability due to the lack of
represented in the 61-70 and 71+
insurance and Medicaid coverage
demographics as well.
for medical cannabis. Marijuana’s
federal Schedule I designation is
to blame for this – signifying that cannabis is a substance that offers no currently accepted
therapeutic benefit in the U.S., with a high likelihood for abuse, despite the fact that this is
contradicted by research which supports the efficacy of cannabis as a medical treatment.
(See Innovative Improvements on page 22)
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Adviser a publication of LeadingAge New York | Winter 2019-20