Page 18 - HME Business, November/December 2020

Assembling The Right
Pain Management Lineup
What options should a DME pharmacy make available to customers who are looking for non-prescription and non-drug options for relieving their pain?
WBy David Kopf and Joseph Duffy ith pain sufferers be-
coming more aware of the dangers of strong painkillers and seeking non-addictive alterna- tives, pharmacies are in a good position to offer
consumers non-prescription and non-pharmaco- logical solutions for managing pain. Alternative options include over-the-counter painkillers, CBD products, TENS and EMS units, hot and cold thera- pies, braces, compression and kinesiology tape.
And pharmacies have good reasons to offer those options. Where customers are concerned, much of the desire for alternatives is born out of the opioid epidemic, or people wish in general to cut down on the number of medications they are taking.
Besides that, non-drug options give pharma- cists the opportunity to increase revenue streams by offering different options. It makes a ton of business sense to respond to that market desire by educating patients on the best products to decrease pain without pills, and then serve up those options.
There are a variety of alternative pain manage-
ment product categories that DME pharmacies should consider carrying. Let’s look at some key offerings you should consider stocking:
CBD
CBD is the alternative pain management prod- uct that has certainly received the most recent me- dia attention, and for a good reason: patients want it and it offers a variety of delivery formats, such as oils and creams. To put it simply, CBD embodies the business case for alternative pain. That said, it also requires some understanding.
CBD is one of the compounds called can- nabinoids produced by the cannabis plant. The cannabinoid most everyone has heard of is THC, the psychoactive component in recreational marijuana. CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is the cannabinoid often used in managing chronic pain, insomnia and anxiety. Using CBD to man- age pain is analogous to using an over-the-coun- ter pain killer; the pain is simply diminished and there is no “high.”
CBD products are sold in varying dosages that might or might not contain very small percentages of THC, as well. The products range from oil tinc-
tures taken under the tongue, capsules, gummies and lotions. Consumers can buy them online and, depending on what state a person lives in, her or she can buy it at retail establishments.
An initial point of trepidation for many pro- viders when it comes to CBD is the law. From a legal and cultural perspective, cannabis has been so stigmatized that some providers might think there’s something illicit about CBD. There isn’t. In fact, the Federal government has made it a point to legitimize CBD when it comes to the law.
The 2018 Farm Bill, which was signed into law at the very end of the 115th Congress in late De- cember 2018, removed industrial hemp produc- tion from the Controlled Substances Act. This gave Federal protection to both hemp farmers and CBD sellers for producing industrial hemp and hemp-derived products, such as CBD, that contain less than 0.3 percent THC.
Also, there are still state statutes to keep in mind. Fortunately, there has been an evolution over the last two years. At present, 33 states have legalized medical marijuana, and CBD usage is legal in some form in every U.S. state. Some states have specific restrictions, and there are special
10 November/December 2020 | DME PHARMACY
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