17 March 2021 - One thing everybody involved with the inquest into the deaths of six epilepsy patients can agree on is that PHARMAC, the national drug buying agency, has a tough job.
With a capped budget of around a billion dollars a year and the seeming reluctance of successive governments to meaningfully increase its resourcing, the agency is constantly faced with decisions: which new drugs to buy; which drugs don't have a compelling cost-benefit case; which existing drugs to switch to generic equivalents.