(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) -An experimental cannabis-derived medication was safer and more effective than placebo and opioids for treating chronic lower back pain in two late-stage trials, researchers said.

Treatment with VER-01, an extract from cannabis sativa DKJ127 L. being developed by Munich-based Vertanical, also improved pain-related sleep disturbances along with patients’ physical function and quality of life, according to separate reports of the trials.

“VER-01 could transform how we care for patients with chronic lower back pain,” Dr. Charles Argoff of Albany Medical College, who coauthored one of the reports, said in a statement.

“The results of the Phase 3

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