Pennsylvania Department Of Health Withdraws Its Appeal To Recall Certain Vaporized Medical Marijuana Products

Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) recalled hundreds of cannabis vaping products in February. Companies that had the most number of products removed were Curaleaf CURLF and Trulieve TCNNF. Private cannabis operators like Parallel, Holistic Farms and INSA, LLC also had many products listed.

Some of the companies hit by the ban, with a coalition of patients, caregivers and doctors formed a group called Medical Marijuana Access & Patient Safety Inc. (MMAPS) and filed a complaint against DOH over its unsupported recall of certain vaporized medical marijuana products because patients rely on the recalled products to relieve symptoms of serious medical conditions. MMAPS have also submitted right-to-know requests seeking to obtain any information or documents that would have supported the DOH’s recall, but to date the DOH has resisted producing any information to support its decisions related to these products.

MMAPS' complaint was successful and a Commonwealth Court judge made a ruling in June, to allow Pennsylvania medical marijuana companies to resume selling vapes. In its June 2 order, the Court concluded that DOH “failed to present any evidence to the Court of potential harm to medical marijuana patients due to the recalled products, or more specifically due to the addition of terpenes to these products.” Furthermore, the Court identified that the DOH “did not call any witnesses during the preliminary injunction hearing or present any evidence regarding patient complaints or adverse events suffered due to the recalled products containing terpenes.”

After the ruling, The Health Department announced that it will appeal the decision, to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

On August 17, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Health voluntarily withdrew its appeal of the preliminary injunction granted to Medical Marijuana Access and Patient Safety, Inc.’s to recall certain vaporized medical marijuana products (the “June 2 Order”). All products impacted by the June 2 Order can continue to be produced and sold through licensed dispensaries across the Commonwealth.

The ruling follows an order granting MMAPS’s application to vacate automatic supersedeas (the “June 15 Order”), which reinstated the Court’s June 2, 2022 preliminary injunction against the DOH’s recall.

In light of these facts, MMAPS believes the DOH should drop the remaining litigation to prevent further confusion and increased costs for patients.

Photo: Benzinga; Sources: courtesy of AJEL, lindsayfoxvia Pixabay