New Federal Government rules on cancer treatment unfair

Critics say new measures proposed by the Australian Federal Government, due to come into force in July this year, will mean an end to Government subsidies for leftover cancer drugs - worth about $26 million a year - are unfair to both patients and pharmacists.

The new arrangements, according to Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, will make it impossible for the 150 pharmacists around Australia who dispense cancer medication to do their job and he has called for the Government to reverse the policy ,which he says will have a whole range of unintended consequences, including pushing some 50,000 patients who are being treated privately for cancer treatment into the public system.

Pharmacists say the new subsidy rules for cancer drugs will force patients to endure long waits for treatment in public hospitals.

The new measures, aimed at cutting down on waste, will affect chemotherapy drugs which will attract Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme funding based on the amount used, rather than the number of vials dispensed.

Senator Xenophon says with 100,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia each year and half of all patients being treated privately, the new rules will lead to a shutdown in private dispensing and a swamping of the public health system.

Pharmacists agree and say the new rules will create problems in particular regarding the dispensing of drugs such as Herceptin - used to treat breast cancer and Mabthera used to treat lymphoma.

Both of those drugs will in future cost around $300, which is unsustainable for pharmacies and it will force many patients back into an already struggling public health system and could mean cancer patients having to wait inordinate lengths of time for treatment.

A spokesman for Health Minister Nicola Roxon says in order to allow for more consultation with the pharmaceutical industry the government will delay the introduction of the new rules from July 1st to September 1st so that patient safety and access to chemotherapy medications is not compromised.