The body responsible for regulating drugs in Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), is poised to decide whether to restrict access to benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Valium and Normison…
There’s no requirement for pharmacies receiving taxpayers' money to do anything more than dispense medicines.
Ian Broyles
The retail pharmacy industry in Australia has successfully acquired a monopoly on supplying medicines paid for by the government or consumers. The industry describes this set-up as being the “best subsidized…
There’s no reason the Australian taxpayer should pay such high prices for medicines when our overseas cousins don’t.
Image from shutterstock.com
The Commonwealth could save A$1.3 billion each year by reforming the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), according to a report released today by the Grattan Institute. The report, Australia’s bad drug…
The biggest delay is arguably at the stage where sponsors can exert the most control over timing.
Chris Kelly
The Australian government introduced a controversial delay to the approval process for subsidised medicines last year, in an attempt to cut costs. We decided to examine the timelines of the approval process…
Recent surveys show many Australians have not filled a prescription because of cost.
Robert S. Donovan
A growing number of people globally live with chronic illness. By the time they reach 65, most Australians have at least one chronic condition and 80% have three or more.
Pharmaceutical treatment is often…
The TGA-banned painkillers are no more effective than paracetamol for acute pain.
Cayusa/Flickr
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has granted pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare a legal stay against the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s (TGA) ban on some of its products.
The company took…
Dabigatran’s manufacturer didn’t provide PBAC with data comparing its effectiveness to the most inexpensive medication treating the same conditions.
Harveyben
Boehringer Ingelheim, manufacturer of the expensive anti-clotting drug dabigatran, has initiated a lobbying campaign to get it listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
The company’s efforts…
Uncertainty about how drugs will be listed on the PBS has patient groups, health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry worried.
LadyofProcrastination/Wikimedia Commons
Any parent who watches kids' weekend footy knows that if the ref misses a breach of the rules, merry hell breaks loose.
But referees are human and sometimes make errors. We forgive the odd one pretty…
The government has made a mistake by not listing pain drug Targin on the PBS.
J Hawk
In an attempt to contain growing health costs, the Australian Government has resisted recommendations to subsidise the pain medication Targin on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule.
Not only is this…
Decisions about listing medicines on the PBS can’t be ad hoc.
The fanfare around Health Minister Nicola Roxon’s announcement yesterday that the government would fund 13 new medicines on the PBS is a reminder of the power and influence involved in the selection and…
Laws rewarding informants could help crack down on fraud regarding medicines.
anolobb/Flickr
Federal and state governments in Australia appear much less successful than their United States counterparts in recovering taxpayers funds lost to suspected large-scale corporate fraud.
For instance…
