Posted by Michael Wonder on 20 Aug 2017
Treatment for cystic fibrosis sufferers still out of reach
19 August 2017 - Health Minister Greg Hunt has been called on to step up and do more for 1000 sick Australians battling cystic fibrosis, including kids from the age of 12, after the government’s pharmaceutical advisory body denied access to a medication that would change sufferers lives.
The drug Orkambi currently costs sufferers $250,000 a year, or more than $20,000 a month, to access, putting it out of reach for most of the sickest Australians.
Yesterday the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee rejected the medication for listing on the PBS — which would reduce the cost to $38.80 or $6.30 for concession holders — for the third time, despite Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Luxembourg all subsidising the drug.
