November 09, 2022
Reti blasts Pharmac child cancer consultation
Opposition health spokesperson Shane Reti says Pharmac’s consultation on funding cancer drugs for children is completely cynical.
The drug buying agency is looking at rule 8.1b of the Pharmaceutical Schedule, which means any medicine currently used to treat cancer in a paediatric setting is automatically funded without a Pharmac assessment.
It says even though it’s rarely used, the medicines funded through rule 8.1b accounted for about half the cost of all paediatric cancer treatments.
Dr Reti says the review comes after his members bill on the issue was pulled from the ballot, and after the Attorney General got a Bill of Rights Act assessment on the issue.
“It came back unequivocally saying it is fair for people with cancer to receive preferential treatment pharmaceutically in a public hospital. They have that legal decision in their hands. For them to try to play fairness now and ignorance and say ‘we don’t know if it’s fair or not ‘ – You’ve got the legal opinion in your hands. You know the answer to this. This is cynical,” he says.
Dr Reti says he dares the Government to tell New Zealand that children with cancer won’t be funded.