23 Dec 2020

Pharmac 'penny pinching' with new medications - Diabetes Foundation

From Morning Report, 7:31 am on 23 December 2020

The Diabetes Foundation is accusing Pharmac of 'penny pinching' and says hundreds of people will die earlier than they should as a result.

The foundation says an early death is certain for 4 out of every 5 diabetics who are not eligible for newly funded medicines.

Pharmac announced on Monday it will fund two new medicines for those who are at high risk of heart and kidney complications from type 2 diabetes.

Dr John Baker is the foundation's chairman.

Pharmac says it considered making the drugs available to all diabetes patients, but says that extra money should go to other higher priority medicines.

However, it has widened access and eligibility to these diabetes drugs - to specifically include Maori and Pacifica patients; people who had not responded to other treatments; and it widened the assessment of cardiovascular risk from 'pre-existing' to a 'high lifetime risk'.

Pharmac says this is the first time it has specifically included ethnicity as a criterion; saying it's an "intentional, proactive move to address" inequitable access to medicines and healthcare among those groups.