Stephen Follansbee, M.D., Plaintiff - has practiced medicine and specialized in advanced-stage AIDS treatment for 22 years in San Francisco. Due to fear caused by the federal government's threats, Dr. Follansbee has withheld vital information about medical marijuana from his patients, and thinks that the government's policy will harm the quality of medical service he can provide to patients.
Daniel Kane, AIDS Patient & Plaintiff - an attorney in Oakland, California, was diagnosed with HIV in 1995. Kane suffered from AIDS Wasting Syndrome and used medical marijuana to quell nausea and increase appetite after exhausting other prescription medications for Wasting Syndrome. Daniel Kane has regained much of the weight he lost and thinks medical marijuana saved his life.
Michael Ferrucci, Cancer and Chronic Pain Patient & Plaintiff - is a father of three and survivor of testicular cancer who also suffers from chronic spinal pain caused by a degenerative disc disorder. He has had several spinal discs removed after they deteriorated beyond repair, and later suffered through intractable nausea as a side effect of chemotherapy treatments for cancer. He uses medical marijuana in place of many powerful prescription narcotics such as morphine and percodan.
Valerie Corral, Chronic Seizure Patient & Plaintiff - suffered severe head injuries from a car accident in 1972, resulting in more than five grand mal seizures a day. Her doctors prescribed powerful, habit-forming narcotics that left Corral in a drug-induced stupor and required 24-hour care from her husband, Mike Corral. Smoking small amounts of marijuana is the only medication that effectively stops her seizures. She has not suffered a grand mal seizure since she began smoking marijuana.
Miton Estes, M.D., Plaintiff - has practiced medicine in San Francisco for more than 20 years. He has approximately 5,000 patients, of whom about 150 are infected with HIV. Where conventional approaches fail or a patient poorly tolerates oral prescription medications, Dr. Estes believes medical marijuana can be an appropriate form of treatment. Dr. Estes has felt compelled to censor his discussions with patients about medical marijuana.
Stephen O'Brien, M.D., Plaintiff - specializes in AIDS treatment in Berkeley, California. Dr. O'Brien has about 200 patients, 70 percent of whom are infected with HIV. Dr. O'Brien estimates that medical marijuana is a preferable form of treatment for AIDS Wasting Syndrome for almost 25 percent of his patients. The federal government's threats have caused Dr. O'Brien to withhold information from his patients.
Ernest Rosenbaum, M.D., - is an oncologist specializing in supportive cancer care and is the Associate Chief of the Department of Medicine at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco. He has published over 20 books about patients living with cancer. Dr. Rosenbaum sees the federal government's opposition to the passage of the medical marijuana proposition in California as a grave intrusion into the exam room and the doctor-patient relationship.