Several patients of a clinic set up to help people obtain medical marijuana are angry tonight.
Many say they have been paying hundreds of dollars for each visit.
KATC TV-3's Katie Easter interviewed several patients who said they had come by the Total Health Clinic on Guilbeau for a second visit, but were turned away. They say their visits have been reschedued multiple times, and although they initially were told that their second visit was free, they're now being asked for hundreds of dollars again.
And, none said they have obtained the recommendation they need to get medical marijuana.
Doctors in Louisiana can't write a prescription for medical marijuana; patients must go to physicians who have a therapeutic marijuana registration permit.
The physician who is the registered agent of the clinic, Chad Rossitter, is a nephrologist who does hold the permit, according to records with the state medical examiner.
We asked to speak with Rossitter, or anyone who could make a statement for the clinic, and were told there would be no statement. THC also has clinics in Shreveport-Bossier, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and New Orleans.
We reached out to the state Board of Medical Examiners about the situation. Dr. Vincent Culotta Jr., M.D. said all doctors who receive these permits are expected to practice ethical medicine in a proper fashion, good medicine for their patients, and to have charts that support their decisions. As far as fees go, there are criteria to be met to warrant an investigation.
He said that any patients who feel they have not received proper treatment from a physician can file a complaint with the board by calling or by downloading a complaint from the board's website. To read about the procedure for filing a complaint, click here.
For information about how the medical marijuana process works in Louisiana, click here.
Find Louisiana physicians licensed to recommend medical marijuana here.
