Missouri says it’s investigating 600 fraudulent medical marijuana patient certifications

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Friday it issued about 600 medical marijuana licenses to patients who submitted an “unauthorized physician signature” on their patient applications.

Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the health department, said patients submitted the name of a physician who was not the person they actually met with during telemedicine visits.

“To our knowledge, they (the patients) thought they were talking to a real doctor,” she said.

“At this time, there is no evidence to indicate the affected patients were aware the physician listed was not the physician who met with them,” the department said in a news release. “However, the physician certification for these patients was not valid.”

The department said it will notify patients affected by the “fraudulent activity” and that it had referred the case to the attorney general’s office and the Missouri Board of Healing Arts.

The department said patients affected will have 30 days to “submit a valid certification” to the state.

“Our main concern is how this fraudulent activity negatively affects patients, and we are working to minimize the impact on them while also holding accountable those who are responsible,” said Dr. Randall Williams, director of DHSS. [Read more at St. Louis Dispatch]

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