June 3, 2015 – The Dent Neurologic Institute (DNI) has partnered with Herbal Agriculture (HA) to become a clinical research center for the use of medical cannabis. The DNI is the largest private Neuroscience Institute in the United States, with decades of Neurology and Psychiatry comprehensive clinical care, advanced neurodiagnostics, therapeutics and research. DNI’s Chief Medical Officer, Laszlo Mechtler states, “We are pleased to have partnered with HA to develop protocols for the treatment of NYS approved neurological disorders, which includes, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury, epilepsy, neuropathies and Huntington’s disease. Additionally, the DNI will focus on clinical protocols involving patients with chronic migraine and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We fully anticipate advancing the science, treatment and research on behalf the individual patients and their families whom could benefit greatly from medical marijuana’s therapeutic benefits.
Gary Smith, Chief Operating Officer of Herbal Agriculture comments “We are extremely excited about our partnership with Dent Neurologic Institute, Dr. Laszlo Mechtler and the entire Medical Advisory Board. They will bring the clinical research initiatives that our patients deserve. This collaboration will enhance our goal which is to relieve patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions whose symptoms may be alleviated through the use of approved medical marijuana.”
Fran Gengo, Pharm.D. Associate Professor at UB and Director of Neuropharmacology research at DNI states, “It is apparent medical marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and epilepsy — or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them and it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day.”
Dr. Capote, Director of Dent Neurologic Institute’s Neuropsychiatry Division states “As the preponderance scientific evidence regarding marijuana’s therapeutic benefits emerge, the reasonable and judicious clinician can feel increasingly comfortable utilizing this medication for very specific neuropsychiatric disorders, either adjunctively—as an add on therapy—or as sole treatment. Science, not politics or preconceived ideas, must be our guide. We evaluate for ourselves without fear or prejudice. Only then can anyone expect to receive the best treatment possible.”
Recently, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, along with supportive patients and their families, visited the DNI to announce a bipartisan legislation titled the Compassionate Access Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS). The legislation’s primary purpose is to change medical marijuana’s classification from Schedule I to Schedule II. This would make clinical research at the DNI far easier from a regulatory perspective. It is commonly believed that the State’s current regulations restrict the science of this therapeutic medication.
“This collaboration with HA is a giant step in allowing physicians the right to practice the art of medicine and the science of research, with the ultimate goal in improving the quality of life for our patients and their families. While the benefits and risks of smoking marijuana may be overstated by advocates and opponents of marijuana legalization, the new legalization will help researchers study the drug’s medicinal uses, and better understand how it impacts the body, ” said Dr. Laszlo Mechtler.
