The Federal Government is under pressure to subsidise a blood-thinning drug. Source: Supplied
THOUSANDS of patients are at risk of a stroke or heart attack as the Government continues to delay subsidising a new blood-thinning medication its own experts recommended 18 months ago.
The $100-a-month treatment Pradaxa can be used by an estimated 100,000 Australian patients who can't or won't use the current treatment Warfarin, which requires regular blood tests and interacts with food and other medicines.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommended Pradaxa be subsidised in March 2011 but the Government failed to approve the subsidy within the required six months.
Instead, it asked the chair of the PBAC to review his own decision in a new inquiry that was meant to report in July this year.
The outcome of that inquiry has still not been made public and there are growing concerns the Government is trying to delay subsidising the drug, at a cost of about $250 million a year, so it can balance its Budget.
Greens health spokesman Senator Richard Di Natale has expressed concerns about increasing delays in listing drugs once they have been approved by the PBAC.
"The PBAC approval process is one of the few areas of public policy that involves establishing a rigorous evidence base and it needs to be protected from all forms of interference," he said.
"While some approved medications might appear to be expensive, it needs to be remembered that an independent expert assessment has shown them to be cost-effective over the long term and that decision must be respected,'' he told pharmaceutical journal Daily Dispatch.
Pradaxa is used in New Zealand and is widely available across the world.
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Government delays new stroke drug