APMA welcomes the Government announcement today (September 30) that all of the medicines rejected for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) by the Government in February 2011 will now be listed. The Government also committed to

• not defer the listing of any medicine recommended by the PBAC with a cost of less than $10 million per year; and
• to involve consumers in discussions to keep costs to a reasonable level with the aim of maintaining PBS sustainability.

APMA Vice-President Paul Murdoch expressed APMA’s support for the outcome, and praised the Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia (CHFA – the peak organisation for consumer health organisations) for the campaign which they had lead over more than 6 months. He said “The result will be welcomed by consumers across the health spectrum, and is an extremely important outcome in defence of the integrity of the health technology assessment processes which are important to us all and the health system itself… no matter how poorly-based or spurious Government decisions might be, once made it is extremely difficult to effect change. To have done so in such a relatively short space of time is even more of an achievement.”

The following links will enable you to read the CHFA advice of the breakthrough, the CHFA media release and the Minister for Health’s media release. You can read more about the campaign, and the background to the issue here.

APPLICATIONS TO LIST ON THE PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) is an expert committee which meets three times per year to consider applications to subsidise the cost of medications used by the community through inclusion in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). It makes recommendations on all applications for listing to the Federal Government. The PBAC is required to take into account the clinical effectiveness, safety and the cost effectiveness (value for money) of the medication concerned compared to other available therapies.

Following recent changes to procedures, the PBAC is now required (and prepared) to consider comments from consumers. As the consumer voice for people living with persistent pain, it is important that APMA provides a viewpoint on behalf of consumers in relation to each application which relates to pain medication. The approach which APMA adopts in preparing its submission on each pain-related medication being considered by the PBAC at a meeting is as follows:

The preparation of each submission will begin with the premise that

(i) in light of the prevalence and chronicity of persistent pain, the availability of the widest possible range of effective medications at the cheapest price is in the best interest of effective pain management and people with persistent pain; and

(ii) discrepancies in medication options between consumers arising from ability to pay, and/or differences in access to health funding (through, for example, private health insurance; access to the Repatriation PBS or via workers’ or accident compensation schemes) rather than clinical need, is ethically indefensible.

Prior to finalising each submission, APMA will

(a) email APMA members advising them of their ability to make submissions on matters listed for discussion;

(b) email APMA members seeking brief advice and information about past or present use, or inability to access, or any other issue a member may wish to raise about a medication, in order to inform the APMA submission (which shall not include any identifying personal information); and

(c) email APMA Clinical Advisory Committee (CAC) members to seek any input or comments CAC members might have, having regard to the above general premises and the expectation that APMA (and the PBAC) expect that in the main relevant detailed and economic data regarding each medication will usually have been provided by the sponsor of the product.

Medications listed for discussion at the PBAC meeting of November 2010 were TARGIN.

Medications listed for discussion at the PBAC meeting of March 2011 were FENTANYL, PREGABALIN (Lryica) and TAPENTADOL HYDROCHLORIDE (Palexia SR).

Medications listed for discussion at the PBAC meeting of July 2011 were FENTANYL lozenges).

Medications listed for discussion at the PBAC meeting of November 2011 were – nil relating to persistent pain.

APMA declares that it has received the following sponsorships or benefits from pharmaceutical companies:

2009

nil

2010

Less than $7,000 from Pfizer as an unencumbered grant to produce our quarterly newsletter Wellbeing

Worked with Mundipharma to widely distribute copies of an educational DVD Chronic Pain health management to consumers

2011

Less than $8,000 from Pfizer as an unencumbered grant to produce our quarterly newsletter Wellbeing

Less than $10,000 from Janssen-Cilag as an unencumbered grant for an exhibitor booth at the 2011 APS Scientific Meeting & the costs associated with staffing the booth

Less than $2,000 from CSL Biotherapies/Grunenthal as an unencumbered grant to conduct persistent pain self-management educational seminars in June 2011