Posted by Michael Wonder on 14 Oct 2019
PBS drug listings being delayed by bureaucracy, medicines lobby says
15 October 2019 - The head of the powerful medicines lobby says Australians are being forced to wait longer to access life-saving treatments than they would overseas thanks to the federal government's overly bureaucratic process for approving new drugs to be subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Medicines Australia chief executive Elizabeth de Somer said Australia lagged behind other OECD countries in the time it took to list new medicines on the PBS, which gives patients access to drugs at a fraction of the retail cost.
The peak body will on Tuesday launch a research paper it commissioned by Columbia University professor Frank Lichtenberg, highlighting the economic benefits of new medicines - including a $3.47 billion saving to the health system from reduced hospitalisations in the 14 years to 2000.
