Report on Pharmac must be taken seriously
National’s Health spokesman, Paul Hutchison, says the Castalia report on New Zealand pharmaceutical policies
demonstrates that New Zealanders are not getting optimal access to a choice of drugs.
The report was commissioned by Pfizer New Zealand and prepared by Alex Sundakov for the Castalia Advisory Group.
“In my view the report makes a convincing case that New Zealand’s present policies need an independent review, not the
type of inside job that Labour is carrying out,” says Dr Hutchison.
“Pharmac has done a good job in keeping the overall drug bill down, but their cost-cutting measures could result in
patients requiring more expensive medicines, or even surgical treatment, later on. That is false economy.
“Alex Sundakov estimates that the extra costs resulting from Pharmac’s policies run into hundreds of millions of
dollars.
“There are many variables to analyse, but the report claims that a disparity in access to mental health drugs between
Australia and New Zealand may result in worse outcomes here, because of lack of access to modern drugs – this is worthy
of investigation.
“Pharmac has made some very inappropriate decisions with regard to sole supply contracting, on pain relief for the
terminally ill, on the flu vaccine and more recently on asthma inhalers.
“The Sundakov report is an important reminder that an independent review of Pharmac is necessary, and National is
committed to that,” says Dr Hutchison.
Ends