Brazil: CFM under fire and under investigation launches public consultation

The Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) is being the target of strong critical, after resolution published on the 14th, having announced the opening of a public consultation on the document. Protests, investigation and lack of solidarity from ANVISA leave CFM isolated, without however making it clear whether the resolution will be revoked.

It was a week like few others in Brazil, which began on the 14th of October, the date on which a resolution by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), which echoed throughout the Brazilian cannabis industry. The rule came to make the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes even more restricted in the country, overlapping the regulation created by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), Resolution of the Collegiate Board No. 327 (RDC 327), of 2019, which made it possible health professionals to carry out the recommendation of medical cannabis to patients through prescription.

Brazil mobilized, the players in the industry organized and mobilized themselves, to the point that initiatives have already been proposed at the congress that suspend the published resolution. If on one side of the barricade there are hundreds of thousands of patients, on the other there is a medical council that proves to be irreducible. CFM announced the opening of a public consultation regarding the resolution it had published, being uncompromising as to its effectiveness, warning that it is in force. And that's not why there were several protests, which were multiplied by the CFM delegations in São Paulo, Brasília and Rio de Janeiro.

A public consultation starts on the 23rd of October and will last until the 23rd of December.

Patient representatives meet with CFM and Regional Council

Meeting at CFM headquarters in Brasília with representatives of civil society Photo: CFM

In Brasilia, the President of CFM, Jeancarlo Cavalcante, and the 2nd secretary of the autarchy, Helena Leão, received Vinícius Ximenes Murray da Rocha, director of Professional Practice and Labor Market of the Brazilian Society of Family and Community Medicine (SBMFC), Luna Vargas, educator and representative of associations of patients undergoing treatment, family members and production centers and Felipe Suzin, from the Federation of Therapeutic Cannabis Associations (FACT). Despite the group's praise for the decision to open the public consultation, the representatives asked the revocation of the recently published Resolution and suggested holding a forum to debate the topic.

President of Cremesp in conversation with patients and doctors / Photo: Brasildefato | Gabriela Moncau

In São Paulo, the president of the Regional Council of Medicine of the State of São Paulo (Cremesp), Irene Abramovich, met for approximately one hour with those present, recognizing that Cremesp cannot disrespect federal resolutions, and it is not possible to prevent the revocation of professional registrations. However, the Regional Council committed to carrying out a public consultation on the subject with doctors, specialists and representative members of the community, and Abramovich's entity will publicly position itself on the resolution before the Federal Council.

Today we were at CFM protesting against resolution 2324 that restricts the prescription of CBD. Enough of prejudice!

For the approval of PL 399 and the regulation of medical cannabis pic.twitter.com/uz7qsIqHUL

— Leonel Briizado🌹🇧🇷🍁 (@leonel_brizado) October 21, 2022

Federal Council isolated in restriction

Although, at the moment, the resolution is in force and has not been suspended with the public consultation, this seems to be a way to buy some time and get the heat of the discussion within civil society to cool down. This is because, according to Folha de São Paulo, CFM had already tried to contact the president of Anvisa, according to a letter of September 15, so that the agency could revoke RDC 327. According to Tribuna Online, the president of Anvisa stated that the letter is under analysis for the preparation of a response, but an assessment has already been formulated that rejects the need to revoke RDC 327, since the standard was carefully written in order to guarantee quality and safety.

The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) also announced that it had launched a procedure at the beginning of the week to investigate the legality of the CFM resolution. The prosecutor responsible for the action, Ailton Benedito de Souza, will investigate the compatibility between the CFM resolution and the social right to health, under the terms of the Federal Constitution, as well as compatibility with other official regulations, such as those of the National Surveillance Agency itself. (Anvisa), mentioned above. The CFM replied that it will forward all the requested information.

In the National Congress, the matter will be discussed and the suspension of the voted resolution, soon. This is an unusual and unexpected political alignment between the Partido dos Trabalhadores and the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, with two draft legislative decrees presented with a view to suspending the resolution. The projects presented, authored by the deputy Paul Teixeira (EN) in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, of the senator Mara Gabrielli (PSDB), will be voted on soon.

Journalist Manuela Borges, patient and founder of InformaCANN, a support network for patients who use medical cannabis, expects to be equally received by a representative of CFM, to whom she will deliver a petition with more than 100 signatures.