March 06, 2019
Select committee to probe health outcomes
A roopu calling for an inquiry into government drug funding agency Pharmac has got more than it asked for.
The Māori affairs select committee this morning decided to hold a wide-ranging inquiry into Māori health inequities, including the role of Pharmac.
Malcolm Mulholland, who helped organise a petition asking Pharmac to reconsider its stance of funding drugs for late stage breast cancer, says it appears the committee wasn't happy with Pharmac's responses to its initial briefing on the issue.
Keeping focused could be a challenge for the larger inquiry.
"Yes we did want a large focus to be on Pharmac but they are looking at healthcare in its entirety and there are a large number of factors that feed into that before you get to the point where you need a pill," Mr Mulholland says.
He says 38 of the women behind the petition have died of advanced drug cancer since Christmas.
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