17 Dec 2019

Pharmac knew about deaths linked to drug brand switch

From First Up, 5:58 am on 17 December 2019

What were they waiting for? That's the question a grieving mother has for Pharmac - after her 27-year-old son died while switching to a generic version of his epilepsy medication called Logem. It's emerged the drug buying agency knew for two weeks that three deaths had been linked to its epilespy drug brand switch but didn't tell patients or the public. Reuben Brown was found dead on October 12 and is one of four deaths now being investigated by the Chief Coroner. His mother, Delly Brown told Guyon Espiner they received very little information prior to the switch.