§16A-4-1.  Registration.

(a)  Eligibility. — A physician included in the registry is authorized to issue certifications to patients to use medical cannabis. To be eligible for inclusion in the registry:

(1)  A physician must apply for registration in the form and manner required by the bureau.

(2)  The bureau must determine that the physician is, by training or experience, qualified to treat a serious medical condition. The physician shall provide documentation of credentials, training or experience as required by the bureau.

(3)  The physician must have successfully completed the course under subsection (a), section one, article three of this chapter.  

(b)  Bureau action. —

(1)  The bureau shall review an application submitted by a physician to determine whether to include the physician in the registry. The review shall include information regarding whether the physician has a valid, unexpired, unrevoked, unsuspended license to practice medicine in this state and whether the physician has been subject to discipline.

(2)  The inclusion of a physician in the registry shall be subject to annual review to determine if the physician’s license is no longer valid, has expired or been revoked or the physician has been subject to discipline. If the license is no longer valid, the bureau shall remove the physician from the registry until the physician holds a valid, unexpired, unrevoked, unsuspended state license to practice medicine in West Virginia.

(3)  The West Virginia Board of Medicine and West Virginia Board of Osteopathic Medicine shall report to the bureau the expiration, suspension or revocation of a physician’s license and any disciplinary actions in a timely fashion.

(c)  Practitioner requirements. — A practitioner included in the registry shall have an ongoing responsibility to immediately notify the bureau in writing if the practitioner knows or has reason to know that any of the following is true with respect to a patient for whom the practitioner has issued a certification:

(1)  The patient no longer has the serious medical condition for which the certification was issued.

(2)  Medical cannabis would no longer be therapeutic or palliative.

(3)  The patient has died.