Groups put patients at risk?
May 7, 2010
MEDICINES Australia has today
urged the government to abolish its
Therapeutic Groups policy which
forces medicines in each group to
be priced according to the cheapest
drug in the classification.
Speaking at a Senate Community
Affairs References Committee
enquiry into the policy this morning,
Medicines Australia chairman Will
Delaat said it “is not at all clear
whether these medicines are
interchangeable.”
He also slammed the mandatory
Cabinet approval for new medicines
costing the PBS more than $10
million per annum before they can
be listed, saying this policy should
be reviewed “so that patients can
have earlier access to the medicines
they need”.
Delaat said the need for Cabinet
approval can delay the listings of
the medicines for up to 12 months
or more - despite the items having already undergone a
comprehensive cost effectiveness
assessment by the Pharmaceutical
Benefits Advisory Committee.
“So the Cabinet approval process
doesn’t make sense,” he said,
urging that at the very least the
$10m threshold should be doubled.
“As a direct result of this policy,
patients may experience
deterioration of their condition
before gaining access to their
medicine - even premature death,”
Delaat fumed.
As far as the therapeutic groups
go, Delaat said there were patient
safety concerns about whether the
medicines covered are “truly
interchangeable on an individual
patient basis.”
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