Advertisement Medical marijuana is booming business in Massachusetts Regulators grow leery of questionable conduct by doctors Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The numbers tell the medical marijuana story in Massachusetts -- more than 25,000 active patients and sales are skyrocketing.Watch the reportAnd that boom is now drawing concern and scrutiny from state regulators who fear medical marijuana could be transformed from a healthcare service to big business.Dr. Uma Dhanabalan is number 10 on the list, obtained by 5 Investigates, which identifies the Massachusetts doctors who are approving the most patient certifications for medical marijuana.The Natick doctor signed more than 1,400 marijuana certificates since October, 2014, when the state started issuing identification cards to marijuana patients.We asked Dr. Dhanabalan if anyone can walk into her clinic and walk out with a certificate for medical marijuana."It's not quite like that at all," she said. "This is a process. This is a clinic. I'm a health care provider and I'm seeing patients with illnesses."Dr. Uma pointed out the number of certifications she has approved is higher than the actual number of patients, because she issues multiple certifications to each patient."This is not done haphazardly in my office," the doctor said. "I can't speak for anybody else."The Board of Registration in Medicine recently suspended Dr. John Nadolny of CannaMed and Dr. Tyrone Cushing of Canna Care Docs, the number two and three biggest medical marijuana certifiers in the state.The board wrote, "Although (Dr. Cushing) only worked at CannaMed two days per week, he was the third highest provider of medical marijuana certificates..."On multiple occasions, the board wrote, Dr. Nadolny " ...did not have bona fide physician-patient relationship with patient..."We showed the numbers to Dr. James Gessner, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, which opposes the use of medical marijuana."That is a lot of certifications," Dr. Gessner said. "And one wonders how one might maintain that physician-patient relationship in an ongoing manner."Dr. Gessner said he is concerned medical marijuana is more about the business of selling marijuana than treating patients."It is a grave concern," the doctor said.Five of the top 15 medical marijuana-certifying doctors on the list work for one company, Canna Care Docs, a chain of medical-marijuana clinics.Back in 2013, 5 Investigates exposed questionable practices at Canna Care, practices only now being scrutinized by the state Board of Registration in Medicine.In our report three years ago, we took $200 in cash and went undercover. A potential patient walked into Canna Care Docs and 20 minutes later she walked out with a recommendation for therapeutic marijuana."I thought it was pretty easy, shockingly so," the patient said.The patient told the doctor about a physical injury, but that injury was never even examined."Based on this one experience, the system is getting a little bit abused," the patient said.Now, Canna Care's Dr. Nadolny has been suspended for some of the same issues.A medical-marijuana certificate was issued in his name to David Njuguna, the man accused of driving high on marijuana when he struck and killed State Trooper Thomas Clardy.But it turns out Dr. Nadolny never personally evaluated Njuguna, which state regulations require.Instead, 5 Investigates has learned, the evaluation was done by an experienced nurse practitioner who works at Canna Care on a per diem basis.State officials admit more oversight is needed."They currently make a personal attestation that they are following the law but clearly, we're seeing some irregularities," said state Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders.State Senator Vinny DeMacedo (R-Plymouth) wants to make sure medical marijuana gets to the patients who truly need it."We need to do a better job of regulating and overseeing this so that people are safe," DeMacedo said.The state has not taken action against any other doctors affiliated with Canna Care Docs. A spokesperson said the company has stopped using nurse practitioners even though they believe they are authorized under state law to conduct certifications.The spokesperson said Canna Care Docs is cooperating with any investigating agencies.The state will likely change the regulations to allow nurse practitioners to certify marijuana patients some time next fall.