Pain-relief patch funding cut about safety not money: Varadkar
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has offered little comfort to those campaigning for a restoration of funding for pain-managing Versatis patches.
Mr Varadkar told the Dáil that the patches were licensed for one use only – the management of pain for people suffering from shingles. He acknowledged doctors could legitimately prescribe them for some other conditions – but not to the extent currently happening in Ireland.
The Taoiseach said the use per head of population was 10 times the level in Britain.
“This is not about money – it is about patient safety,” Mr Varadkar insisted.
He was responding to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who made an impassioned plea on behalf of those who were being denied access to what he described as the only comfort for many people in serious pain.
Mr Martin said RTÉ broadcaster Joe Duffy had been the real patient advocate for this cause as thousands of people have called his show over the last fortnight.
He criticised the cuts in medical card funding for the patches and also the problems with the drug refund scheme and rejected the Taoiseach’s arguments about the situation being driven by patient safety.
“I think it was a costcutting measure by any yardstick,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
He said the time for explanations was over.
“This has caused enormous trauma to too many people and the decision needs to be urgently revisited so that people can be given back their lives. Whether the Taoiseach likes it or not, their lives have been taken from them,” Mr Martin insisted.
Mr Varadkar said he had discussed the matter in detail with Health Minister Simon Harris last week. He again insisted it was licensed only for shingles pain – and no other illness and that controls were needed on prescriptions.
The Taoiseach said it was an anaesthetic and not something one should prescribe lightly.
He warned that long-term use could have consequences for people.
“They can become dependent on them and there are other long-term side effects,” he added.