A painful existence in regions
IN Rod Jarrad’s pain-hazed world, medication is a very expensive part of life.
The 52-year-old former tradie broke his back at 17 while swinging from a rope at Crystal Cascades and has since been diagnosed with arachnoiditis, a pain disorder caused by the inflammation of membranes surrounding the spinal cord.
Mr Jarrad’s days are filled by severe stinging, burning pain, and neurological problems and the numerous medications he takes to manage the condition.
He spends much of his income on methadone, pantoprazole, gabapentin, sodium valproate and medicinal cannabis oil.
“They are all for the pain,” Mr Jarrad said.
“You have to spend more than a thousand on medication before you reach the PBS safety net and they are free.
“Some chemists charge differently.”
Mr Jarrad’s condition has severely limited his mobility and his ability to shop for the best price for his meds.
“I have a mate who takes me to the doctors as I can’t drive because of the drugs,” he said. “I have an electric wheelchair but I’d have to take a taxi to town and that’s $50 each way, so what is the point in going?”
His cannabis oil is an eyewatering $150 for 120ml and, unbelievably, that is on the cheaper end of the spectrum for the non-PBS listed medicine.
Medicinal cannabis is notoriously expensive as it is listed under the Special Access Scheme and not subsidised on the PBS.
And despite streamlined processes for GPs, it is understood that in the Far North a handful opt to prescribe it for patients.
A recent survey revealed chronic pain patients still fear to ask their doctors about it because of lingering stigma and prejudice.
A NewsCorp investigation revealed at the weekend that patients are paying nearly four times more for their medicines simply because of where they live.
The difference in price is the result of laws that give pharmacists a monopoly on owning chemist shops, while at the same time preventing new chemists opening within 1.5km of existing businesses and banning supermarkets from selling the drugs. Federal government rules also mean a new pharmacy has to be within 500m of a full-time prescribing medical practitioner and a small market, or within 500m of a large supermarket.
Patients in regional towns have been left footing the biggest bills.
In cities like Cairns, discount pharmacies help patients get a better deal.
Cairns pharmacist and chairman of the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network, Nick Loukas, said Cairns was fortunate in its concentration of discount pharmacies.
“Competition keeps our prices down,” Mr Loukas said.
The director of the Alive Pharmacy Warehouse group said his main competition was the national Chemist Warehouse chain.
“If we don’t get close to their price, we price ourselves out of the market,” he said.
Mr Loukas said customers had grown adept at “chemist shopping” in order to get the best price for their medications.
“That keeps honest,” he said.
“The customer can go down the road where it’s cheaper.
“I have heard things about remote localities being more expensive but they also have extra costs.” pharmacies