Posted by Michael Wonder on 29 Jun 2017
Rare cancer sufferers given reprieve with new drug subsidy
30 June 2017 - Sufferers of a rare blood cell cancer will get cheap access to a new drug after an unprecedented move by the Turnbull government.
For the first time, the government has listed a medicine on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme after an application by patients, rather than a drug company.
From Saturday, sufferers of relapsed or refractory cutaneous t-cell lymphoma - a white blood cell cancer that predominantly affects the skin - will be able to get a drug at the heavily subsidised price of $38.80 per script or $6.30 for concessional patients.
Vorinostat normally would normally cost patients about $18,950 a year.
