Latest news with #Montu
Hindustan Times
12-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
President's Independence Day reception handmade invites reflect traditional art
Artisans from across the country have created handmade invitation cards for the President Droupadi Murmu's At Home reception on Independence Day, reflecting distinct traditional art forms. The National Institute of Design (NID) (Ahmedabad) coordinated project brought together skills passed down through generations to empower artisan communities. President Droupadi Murmu at a reception. (File Photo/Representative) Artist Jaba Chitrakar and her family in West Bengal's Naya produced 750 invitations, measuring five by nine inches. 'A representative from NID called and asked me to complete this order for the August 15 celebrations,' said Chitrakar's husband and artisan, Montu. The Chitrakars used natural colours, turmeric, neem leaves, mud, white sand, bel fruit, and coconut garlands for the cards. They dried the colours in sunlight before mixing them with water. The designs painted on chart paper feature Goddesses Mansa, Durga, Saraswati, Laxmi, etc. The Chitrakars art has been awarded a Geographical Indication tag. Montu, Jaba, and their daughters are award-winning artisans. Sibanarayan Swain and his community from Raghurajpur in Odisha's Puri contributed 500-600 invites in the patachitra tradition painted on palm leaves themed 'Tree of Life' carrying the message of saving the environment. 'A team from NID came to our village. They saw all our work and ordered samples from us. After that, they said they want us to work on this,' Swain said. 'We are very grateful for this grand project. Our artisans were very happy with this assignment too.' Raghurajpur is home to 160 families practising patachitra and other crafts such as cow dung painting. It has produced three Padma awardees and 15 national awardees. Raghurajpur has also won the 'Best Rural Tourism' Award. It is the birthplace of Odissi dance founder Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Tikuli artist Shanti Sinha created handmade invites using wall paint in Bihar's Bata Chowk. Sinha, who teaches girls this art form traditionally made for festivals such as Diwali and Chhath Puja, said the Independence Day project allowed their work to be adapted for a national celebration.
Sydney Morning Herald
31-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
No red flags in one doctor's 72,000 scripts, cannabis giant insists
Staley said Montu was 'proud of [its] sector-leading approach', claiming a mandatory 20-minute nurse consultation for every patient. Meanwhile, the federal medical regulator has stepped up investigations into doctors prescribing cannabis. More than 20 practitioners are under review for potentially putting profit ahead of patient safety. And discussion of the issue has prompted a prominent drug policy reform group to say broader cannabis reform is urgently needed, to allow 'carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access' that sits outside the medical system. This masthead revealed high-volume prescribing at Montu using leaked company documents that showed just eight of the company's doctors together issued 245,109 scripts in the two years to June 30 this year, an average of 295 scripts per doctor for a standard five-day working week. The revelations prompted alarm among medical experts and health officials about the scale and speed of prescribing in Australia's booming cannabis sector. Loading Federal Health Minister Mark Butler responded by warning of 'unscrupulous and possibly unsafe behaviour' in the industry. Asked on Monday about the 72,000 scripts, Butler said that while medicinal cannabis had provided 'a lot of relief to a lot of people, from kids with epilepsy right up to adults with really hard-to-treat mental health issues', there were 'some business practices that have emerged that are, frankly, unsafe and certainly unscrupulous'. He said he had asked regulators to advise all health ministers 'on how to regulate this industry in a more safe way.' The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency oversees doctors, nurses and other practitioners nationally. It has taken formal action against 57 practitioners over medicinal cannabis prescribing, and a rise in complaints from patients and health professionals led it to identify more than 20 practitioners, most of them red-flagged due to high patient and prescription numbers. An AHPRA spokesperson said these clinicians must justify their prescribing practices or face regulatory action. Montu, owner of the Alternaleaf brand, operates a vertically integrated model; its 120 nurses and doctors conduct telehealth consultations and its pharmacy arm dispenses products, including its in-house brands 'Circle' and 'Sundaze'. Since medical cannabis was legalised in 2016, the company's 'closed loop' model has put it at the forefront of the industry's rapid expansion. Montu's revenue grew from $103,000 in 2020 to $263 million in 2024. Its claims that its clinics are not high turnover are at odds with the experience of 10 of its former clinicians, speaking on background, who told this masthead that consultations were often extremely brief. One leaked document showed consultations were scheduled for 10 minutes, and clinicians said they were often far shorter. 'When you're starting to do five-minute sessions, you're literally not even talking to the patient,' one former prescribing doctor said in Monday's story. 'You're just giving them cannabis.' Concerns about the structure of the medicinal cannabis industry are also being raised by public health bodies. Dr Jake Dizard, director of research at the Penington Institute, said medicinal cannabis had delivered benefits to many but warned that the system was now being pushed well beyond its original intent. Loading 'Too often, unscrupulous doctors and companies are putting profits over patients' interests,' he said. Dizard said demand for cannabis in Australia was 'high and persistent, so leaving the medical system as the only legal access point creates bad incentives to expand client volume at the expense of quality care'. The ability of companies to both prescribe and dispense cannabis created conflicts of interest and transparency problems, he said. 'Medical cannabis shouldn't be an opaque industry where big companies both prescribe and dispense their own products.' Loading Dizard said broader cannabis reform might ultimately be necessary to relieve pressure on the medical system. 'Governments should embrace comprehensive cannabis legalisation and strict regulation to take pressure off the medical cannabis system. Separating out medicinal and non-medicinal cannabis and establishing carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access is an essential part of the solution.'
The Age
31-07-2025
- Health
- The Age
No red flags in one doctor's 72,000 scripts, cannabis giant insists
Staley said Montu was 'proud of [its] sector-leading approach', claiming a mandatory 20-minute nurse consultation for every patient. Meanwhile, the federal medical regulator has stepped up investigations into doctors prescribing cannabis. More than 20 practitioners are under review for potentially putting profit ahead of patient safety. And discussion of the issue has prompted a prominent drug policy reform group to say broader cannabis reform is urgently needed, to allow 'carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access' that sits outside the medical system. This masthead revealed high-volume prescribing at Montu using leaked company documents that showed just eight of the company's doctors together issued 245,109 scripts in the two years to June 30 this year, an average of 295 scripts per doctor for a standard five-day working week. The revelations prompted alarm among medical experts and health officials about the scale and speed of prescribing in Australia's booming cannabis sector. Loading Federal Health Minister Mark Butler responded by warning of 'unscrupulous and possibly unsafe behaviour' in the industry. Asked on Monday about the 72,000 scripts, Butler said that while medicinal cannabis had provided 'a lot of relief to a lot of people, from kids with epilepsy right up to adults with really hard-to-treat mental health issues', there were 'some business practices that have emerged that are, frankly, unsafe and certainly unscrupulous'. He said he had asked regulators to advise all health ministers 'on how to regulate this industry in a more safe way.' The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency oversees doctors, nurses and other practitioners nationally. It has taken formal action against 57 practitioners over medicinal cannabis prescribing, and a rise in complaints from patients and health professionals led it to identify more than 20 practitioners, most of them red-flagged due to high patient and prescription numbers. An AHPRA spokesperson said these clinicians must justify their prescribing practices or face regulatory action. Montu, owner of the Alternaleaf brand, operates a vertically integrated model; its 120 nurses and doctors conduct telehealth consultations and its pharmacy arm dispenses products, including its in-house brands 'Circle' and 'Sundaze'. Since medical cannabis was legalised in 2016, the company's 'closed loop' model has put it at the forefront of the industry's rapid expansion. Montu's revenue grew from $103,000 in 2020 to $263 million in 2024. Its claims that its clinics are not high turnover are at odds with the experience of 10 of its former clinicians, speaking on background, who told this masthead that consultations were often extremely brief. One leaked document showed consultations were scheduled for 10 minutes, and clinicians said they were often far shorter. 'When you're starting to do five-minute sessions, you're literally not even talking to the patient,' one former prescribing doctor said in Monday's story. 'You're just giving them cannabis.' Concerns about the structure of the medicinal cannabis industry are also being raised by public health bodies. Dr Jake Dizard, director of research at the Penington Institute, said medicinal cannabis had delivered benefits to many but warned that the system was now being pushed well beyond its original intent. Loading 'Too often, unscrupulous doctors and companies are putting profits over patients' interests,' he said. Dizard said demand for cannabis in Australia was 'high and persistent, so leaving the medical system as the only legal access point creates bad incentives to expand client volume at the expense of quality care'. The ability of companies to both prescribe and dispense cannabis created conflicts of interest and transparency problems, he said. 'Medical cannabis shouldn't be an opaque industry where big companies both prescribe and dispense their own products.' Loading Dizard said broader cannabis reform might ultimately be necessary to relieve pressure on the medical system. 'Governments should embrace comprehensive cannabis legalisation and strict regulation to take pressure off the medical cannabis system. Separating out medicinal and non-medicinal cannabis and establishing carefully regulated adult-use cannabis access is an essential part of the solution.'
7NEWS
29-07-2025
- Business
- 7NEWS
Cannabis is becoming legal in Australia by stealth: Online providers prescribing marijuana and cannabis oil
There were no mass street protests. No impassioned speeches on the steps of Parliament. Few petitions and little visible support from celebrities or civic leaders. But over the past four years there has been a historic shift in Australia's approach to its most popular illicit drug. Cannabis use is effectively being legalised by the growth of professional suppliers. Leaked figures published Monday demonstrated how demand for medical cannabis is exploding. A single doctor at Montu, Australia's largest cannabis provider, wrote 72,000 prescriptions for the drug in two years, according to the Nine newspapers, a figure not challenged by the business. Assuming the doctor averaged five days a week work for 46 weeks a year, that meant he or she issued 156 scripts each day. While the individual circumstances are unclear, Montu and its competitors are making cannabis relatively cheap and easy to obtain. Amazon-like service The company advertises 10-minute, $29 video calls with its doctors. Chronic pain and anxiety are two of the most common reasons for a prescription. Patients don't necessarily have to provide any further evidence they're ill. Montu's wholesale cannabis supply business, Leafio, allows patients to order their drugs in a few minutes using a website almost as slick as Amazon's. Revenue last year was $263 million, according to The Age. On Google, the company has 1,192 reviews, averaging four stars. It has hired former health minister Greg Hunt to negotiate industry guidelines for prescribing cannabis over the phone and video calls. A company spokesman said on Monday that some of its prescriptions are never used because they are for a different doses or cannabis products the patient decides they do not need. Others are repeat prescriptions for the same product. 'There is no requirement that the doctor appointment only takes 10 minutes,' the spokesperson said. 'The length of a consult is governed only by the time the doctor needs to perform a medical assessment which is dependent on the complexity of the medical history of the patient.' Commercial drug market The Government does not track the exact number of people who buy legal cannabis. But since legal medical use began in 2016, doctors have approved the drug 2.1 million times. Use accelerated in 2021 when a single, permanent licence was introduced for medical cannabis producers. Demand quickly took off, helped by what Health Minister Mark Butler refers to as 'unscrupulous' medical cannabis companies. Some customers have reported being sent less cannabis than they paid for. Others were switched to brands, without their permission, more profitable for the supplier. Doctors are concerned the system is being turned into a commercial drug market with little care for patients' health. 'The main problem is how do you differentiate a patient who is going to use it therapeutically from someone who is obtaining it to use themselves or give to someone else recreationally,' former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth said. Three weeks ago a medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, warned cannabis doctors to be more careful and said there was evidence some cannabis clinics were 'over-servicing' and operating in 'ethical grey areas'. 'We don't prescribe opioids to every patient who asks for them, and medicinal cannabis is no different,' Medical Board of Australia chair Susan O'Dwyer said at the time. 'Patient demand is no indicator of clinical need.' Lower IQs Cannabis is legal in almost half of the US and Canada. In Australia, it is decriminalised in South Australia and the Northern Territory, which means there is no criminal penalty for recreational use. Small quantities are legal in the ACT. It has long been Australia's most popular recreational drug. In 2022, 3 per cent of Australian adults and teenagers reported using it for medical reasons. In total, 12 per cent of people reported consuming cannabis in the previous year. Another updated survey on use is underway. While the health system facilitates use of the drug, other arms of the Government argue against it. The Federal and State Governments fund the Drug and Alcohol Foundation, which argues that cannabis consumption leads to lower IQs, 'diminished life satisfaction and achievement' and a higher risk of psychotic disorders.
Sydney Morning Herald
27-07-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
The cannabis factory: How one doctor wrote 72,000 scripts in two years
A single doctor at Australia's largest medicinal cannabis company churned out 72,000 prescriptions to 10,000 patients in just two years, prompting fresh alarm about potentially unsafe prescribing practices in the booming sector. The concerning scale of prescribing at Montu, documented in leaked reports, has been confirmed by the company after initial denials. The revelations have alarmed cannabis industry insiders pushing for stricter rules for the booming industry, and prompted federal Health Minister Mark Butler to warn of 'unscrupulous and possibly unsafe behaviour' in the sector. Since Australia approved cannabis for medical use in 2016, a booming telehealth industry has emerged. At the forefront is the Montu Group, which owns Alternaleaf clinics that employ medical staff — including 120 doctors and nurses paid per appointment — to prescribe via telehealth, and subsidiary Leafio, which dispenses the medication. Montu also has its own range of cannabis products (named 'Circle' and 'Sundaze') that its doctors prescribe, among other brands. Leaked documents, along with interviews with 10 former Montu clinical staff, reveal concerns about a high-volume prescribing model. The records show how just eight of the company's doctors together issued 245,109 scripts in the two years to June 30 this year, an average of 295 scripts per doctor for a standard five-day working week. The documents show Alternaleaf's busiest doctor saw 10,500 patients and issued 72,500 scripts in that two-year period. Another practitioner wrote 49,500 scripts for 4300 patients in just over two years, while a third issued nearly 40,000 scripts to 4000 patients. The leaked data prompted an initial denial from Montu. A spokesman claimed the leaked figures were 'not accurate' and that in the last 12 months its doctors had issued an average of just 205 prescriptions to 80 different patients per week. 'There is no doctor at Montu prescribing anywhere near these levels,' the spokesperson said initially. Asked by this masthead to re-check its records, Montu reversed its position and confirmed the top prescriber's numbers. The company attributed the performance to 'one outlier doctor, who is the highest prescriber at Alternaleaf and works more hours than any other doctor'.
