Ophthalmology CME

The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Program Required Course Bundle has been approved by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health, Office of Medical Cannabis and satisfies the West Virginia educational requirements to become a practitioner with the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Program.

This course introduces the reader to the endocannabinoid system and its interaction with the components of the cannabis plant, and addresses administration, therapeutic use, drug metabolism, physiologic and cognitive effects, potential risks, and drug interactions.

The use of marijuana in obstetric patients, pediatric patients, adolescent patients and elderly patients is discussed in detail. Important considerations for patients with ischemic heart disease, hepatic disease, psychotic illness, and those with a history of drug dependence are provided.

This course bundle also addresses the use of cannabidiol (CBD) in clinical care, and the information will assist clinicians in effectively treating and counseling CBD consumers. The physiological effects of CBD, CBD drug interactions, CBD’s side effects, and the conditions for which CBD has been shown by evidence-based clinical studies to be efficacious are all discussed in this course bundle.

The West Virginia medical cannabis program rules and regulations are outlined in a state-specific course, as well.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Biosimilar drugs are products meant to be similar in quality, safety, and efficacy to an already licensed reference biotherapeutic product. There has been remarkable growth in the number of commercially available products considered biosimilar by the FDA: over 30 FDA-approved and over 20 launched by one recent count. One therapeutic area of upcoming expansion of approvals is in ocular indications, where there is considerable active research and where available data indicate identical or near-identical rates of efficacy, safety outcomes, and immunogenicity. Biosimilars save the U.S. healthcare system $338 billion annually, a remarkable statistic for medications that are clinically interchangeable, and they are expected to continue to play a role in reducing the burden of healthcare expenditures in an era of heightened cost consciousness.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: ophthalmologists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in ophthalmology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients eye disease.

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody disease (MOGAD) is a demyelinating, autoimmune condition affecting the central nervous system. MOGAD is characterized by the presence of autoantibodies directed against the MOG protein located on the surface of myelin sheaths surrounding nerve fibers in the CNS. The disease course may be monophasic or relapsing, and a progressive course is extremely rare, making the mortality rate fairly low (2.1%) compared to other neuroinflammatory diseases. It is a relatively new addition to the category of demyelinating diseases, and approximately 10,000 cases of MOGAD are estimated within the U.S.