Stand on drug charges ‘wrong’

National’s health spokesman Dr Shane Reti has accused Finance Minister Grant Robertson of making the issue of unfunded cancer drugs a problem for the wealthy.

Reti said that in response to a National Party proposal for DHBs to cover the costs of administering cancer drugs that Pharmac would not fund, Robertson stated in an interview last week that a law change would only help those who were wealthy enough to fund their own treatment, who would then take up space in the public health system.

“New Zealanders are rightly incensed at this response,” Reti said.

“There are hundreds of stories out there of ordinary Kiwis struggling to pay for their unfunded chemotherapy drugs who resort to Givealittle pages and crowdfunding in order to save or prolong their lives.

“Others are mortgaging their homes, taking out loans and using up all their savings to buy their desperately needed cancer medicines that Pharmac won’t fund, and then they have to pay tens of thousands of dollars on top of this to have these medicines administered.

“It’s wrong to suggest that these Kiwis are wealthy and can afford their treatment. These are ordinary, desperate New Zealanders who have made huge sacrifices. The very least we could do is remove the regulation that stops cancer medicines that are not funded by Pharmac from being administered in public hospitals.

“A few hours in an armchair in a day-stay chemotherapy unit pales in comparison to the tens of thousands, often hundreds of thousands, of dollars some people pay for their unfunded chemotherapy drugs.”

He urged Labour MPs to at the very least support the legislation through to select committee so they could hear in person from New Zealanders whose lives would be greatly impacted by “this very small change”.