Two of the country's leading cancer experts have slammed Pharmac's proposal to take away the special exemption which gives children with the disease any drug they need.
Oncologists Chris Jackson and Scott McFarlane say the move is likely to mean children will face much longer waits for new paediatric drugs that come on the market in the future.
Both doctors are highly critical of the way Pharmac has treated patient advocate Fiona Tolich, who sparked Pharmac's action on child cancer drugs by taking a discrimination case.
They believe it amounts to intimidation and could have a chilling effect on people advocating for funding of medicines.
Investigative Journalist Guyon Espiner, who broke the story on Monday, filed this report.
