Orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Jonathan Hersch, M.D., FAAOS, with Tenet Florida Physician Services and West Boca Medical Center in Boca Raton, is now specializing in the new ExactTechGPS® Shoulder Application, a preoperative surgery planning tool. Dr. Hersch is using this technology as a tool to create guided personalized surgery for shoulder replacements. Similar to a GPS navigation device in a vehicle, this shoulder procedure platform gives the surgeon a visual map of the patient’s shoulder joint on a high-definition (HD) screen. This allows the shoulder specialist to combine their preoperative planning with intraoperative computer-assisted technology. Dr. Hersch said this helps to perform implant alignment relative to the patient’s needs.

“This is the latest advancement in technology providing surgeons with real-time visual guidance and alignment data in total shoulder surgery. The precision and accuracy is unparalleled,” said Dr. Hersch.
 
Dr. Hersch is now using this preoperative planning tool to plan cases based on a 3D anatomical model built during a patient’s visit to his office prior to surgery, thus allowing him to make any adjustments needed prior to the procedure.


Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital welcomes board-certified pulmonary and sleep medicine specialist Andres Santiago Endara-Bravo, M.D. Dr. Endara will also serve as the Director of the Indian River Hospital Sleep Center.

Dr. Endara earned his doctorate of medicine from The Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. He completed additional training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Tulane University Hospital in New Orleans, and sleep medicine at University of Miami.
 
Prior to joining Indian River Hospital, Dr. Endara served as a pulmonary/sleep medicine/critical care physician in North Carolina and in Mississippi. He also currently serves in the United States Army Reserve.


Holy Cross Health has forged a strategic collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA to combine the best of academic medicine with the best of community care. Holy Cross Health will have access to the breadth and depth of clinical and research expertise at Massachusetts General Hospital to support the delivery of high-quality care in South Florida.
 
The largest and original teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Mass General is consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the world, with clinical expertise spanning virtually every medical and surgical specialty. The 1,042-bed academic medical center, each year admits 50,500 patients and records more than 1.5 million visits to its outpatient programs and Emergency Department. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with more than $1 billion in annual research expenditures.
 
“This collaboration expands our relationship with Mass General providers and administrators to deliver value across our organization and to our patients, right in our own backyard,” said Mark Doyle, President and CEO of Holy Cross Health.
 
Holy Cross providers will collaborate with Massachusetts General Hospital experts through a variety of programs, including advisory services, eConsults, and education and training programs. Holy Cross is the first domestic member of the Global Alliance. 


Trulieve Cannabis Corp announces the promotion of Eric Powers to Chief Legal Officer, and the appointments of Ronda Sheffield to Chief Human Resources Officer, Zachary Kobrin to General Counsel, and Aaron Lopez to Director Government Affairs.

For the last two years, Eric Powers has served as Trulieve’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He has more than 25 years of broad legal experience through his work in corporate and tax law, both in-house and private practice. Prior to joining Trulieve, Powers served as Vice President and Corporate Secretary for a >$1 billion revenue publicly-traded insurance company.
 
As a human resources executive for more than 20 years, Ronda Sheffield brings extensive experience leading organizational transformations. Most recently the Chief Human Resources Officer for ModWash, Sheffield has held HR leadership positions for top corporations including Lowe’s Home Improvement, Sprint Wireless, Starbucks Coffee Company, and Walmart Stores.
 
Zack Kobrin was a partner with Akerman LLP, where he was a leader in the firm’s nationally recognized cannabis practice group. Prior to Akerman, Zack was the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for a multi-state cannabis company. In his prior capacity, Kobrin advised a number of entities on corporate, business development and formation, as well as, legal, regulatory, and compliance matters in the cannabis and hemp industry throughout the United States and emerging international markets.
 
Aaron Lopez joins as Trulieve’s first Director of Government Affairs. Prior to joining Trulieve, Lopez was the founder of Political Capital LLC. He has served as head of government affairs across various industries including pharmaceutical, hospitality, oil and gas, and financial services. For the past five years, Lopez has worked with state agencies and legislators in Virginia and West Virginia on the creation of medical cannabis laws.
 
 


More than 500,000 patients in Florida depend on medical marijuana to help them deal with conditions ranging from epilepsy to PTSD to cancer. Yet two controversial proposals—House Bill 1455 and Senate Bill 1958—are currently making their way through the legislative process, which could change the efficacy of the medications that these patients receive.

These proposals, introduced by Rep. Spencer Roach and Sen. Ray Rodrigues respectively, would place a 10 percent THC cap on smokable marijuana, and limit THC levels in all other forms of cannabis except edibles, like concentrates and powders, to 60 percent. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive component of marijuana. The bills also impose advertising restrictions on doctors who order cannabis for their patients.
 
These proposals are being roundly criticized by numerous groups ranging from physicians and patients to medical cannabis companies and advocacy groups.
 
“This has been a highly charged topic amongst all in the cannabis space; lower THC potency means patients would be forced to buy more, pay more, and use more product, all to achieve their current physician-recommended dosage,” said licensed medical marijuana dispensary Trulievein a prepared statement. “As these laws affect almost every single medical cannabis product, the market as it is today would not exist.”
 
According to Eric Stevens, advisor, Florida for Care, the proposal’s sponsors have not proven a case for the dangers of having more THC in cannabis products. The majority of products currently being used by patients contain approximately 16 to 26 percent THC.
 
“Their reasoning varies, but it is seemingly because they believe that some sort of additional damage is occurring because of these higher THC products,” he said. “While they’re claiming increased incidence of psychosis, when they discussed the bill on March 9, they could not come up with one episode in Florida’s 500,000 patients who have used medical marijuana in the past three years.”
 
This is not the first time that Republican legislators have tried to get this type of legislation passed. For the past two years, similar bills have moved through committees but died in the Senate.
 
“A good number of leaders who were in the House are now in the Senate, which is why they’ve brought the bill back again,” said Stevens. “When we heard that it would be coming back, we offered to provide them with information, but they have not invited one physician up to talk about what’s working or not. It’s interesting that there are no doctors speaking out in favor of this.”
 
Stevens adds that more than 200 doctors have signed a petition against the legislation.
 
The Patient Perspective
One of the main reasons that physicians, among others, are not supporting these policies is because of the negative effect that the proposals will have on patients.
 
“These bills place artificial caps on naturally occurring THC in cannabis and would affect nearly every medical cannabis product sold in Florida today, hurting patients instead of helping them,” said Trulieve. “We have fought these caps on behalf of patients each year it has been brought up, and we will continue to fight for patients.
 
“We have not seen any studies that recommend placing limits on THC potency,” the company added. “Lower potency means buying more, spending more, and even being forced to smoke or vape more, all to achieve the same doctor-recommended dosage that patients can find now.”
 
According to Florida Cares’ data, a 10 percent cap would result in an average price increase of between 50 percent and 150 percent for patients buying smokable flower, and THC caps would mean that patients would have to smoke between 50-150 percent more marijuana to achieve the same or similar medicinal effects.
 
“When you consider that a person has been using a product for multiple years that works, but now they have to find something else or use more and pay more, it’s frustrating,” said Stevens, adding that because these products aren’t covered by insurance, patients are paying out-of-pocket. “Only one or two products fall under the 10 percent THC category right now, which means that you’re asking for four years of research and development to be redone, not to mention that with that limited number of low-THC products, it’s going to be harder for dispensaries to keep it in stock.”
 
Having passed the Professionals & Public Health subcommittee March 9 and the Health Care
Appropriations subcommittee March 18, the proposal is now before the Health & Human Services committee, with a tentative decision scheduled for March 29. It must reach legislators in its final form before May 1 to receive a vote.
 
“Basically, that means that the proposals need to move through all committees by the first week of April in order to get the final version to the House and Senate,” said Stevens.
 
During this time, Florida for Care is continuing to push conversations about the proposals in Tallahassee in order to provide accurate, medically based information to the state’s legislators. It is also encouraging the public to sign a petition online against passage of these bills, which to date, has received more than 40,000 signatures.
 
“They need to understand that this is not what people want—that there are no positives to this approach,” Stevens said. “They need to stop creating the dialog that they want to hear.”