Calls for greater transparency about how Pharmac prioritises medicines

There are calls for greater transparency about how Pharmac prioritises medicines on what is effectively a wait list for funding as it considers culling that list. If the proposal goes ahead the government drug buying agency will focus on cutting drugs that have been in the lowest ranked group on the options for funding list for more than two years. Publicly drugs on the funding wait list appear in alphabetical order; but where they are ranked in terms of priority for funding is kept secret. Leukemia and Blood Cancer chief executive Tim Edmonds spoke to Lisa Owen.