LANTUS Insulin now approved for PBS
Earlier in August I posted (on my old blog site) the following blog. I'm now delighted to report that LANTUS insulin has been approved for listing from 1 October 2006. I still haven't had a reply from Mr Abbott (The Federal Health Minister) to my letter - perhaps I never will. But the main thing is, the Lantus insulin IS finally approved, and we won't have to continue to pay over $100 for every vial.
"Since late last year we've been paying out over $100 a time for a small vial of insulin for my husband. For a long time he's been a 'brittle' diabetic with difficult to control blood sugar levels, but for reasons still unknown (we suspect he may have had a bad batch of insulin) he ended up with sudden very very high blood sugar readings which had him hospitalised for around three weeks.
During that time a doctor suggested his diabetes would be better controlled with an insulin called Lantus, which we'd never heard of. Our regular doctor hadn't mentioned it because we're pensioners and it wasn't on PBS. However in desperation we read more about it and were told that listing on PBS was likely to occur 'very soon', so we decided to use it.
The results have been remarkable. Hubby's blood sugar levels are much more stable with a corresponding improvement in his overall health, not suffering the side effects of wild swings, and no more hospital visits.
But now, nearly 12 months later and Lantus is still not listed on PBS. Why? How many hospital admissions could have been saved in that time if it had been more readily available for people such as my husband who have a particularly 'brittle' form of Type 1 diabetes?
In trying to find some recent news about the progress of PBS listing of Lantus, I found this transcript of interview on Sky News with Jan McLucas on 16 July 2006. Here's parts of that interview.
INTERVIEWER: You have been quite critical of the process today, how long do you think it should take for a drug like Herceptin to be passed by the PBS?JAN MCLUCAS: Well, it should be a lot faster than Mr Abbott has dealt with a range of drugs. The Lantus example is a fine one. He has had that recommendation since April the 26th and yet today on the program he gave no indication as to when it would be listed.He is right it has to go through a process and part of that process is fixing an appropriate price. But Mr Abbott has form on this. He clearly has an attitude of go slow when it comes to listing important medicines.
INTERVIEWER: Surely they have to be quite careful with the process. We know that it is very expensive as we have heard with Herceptin it will cost taxpayers as much as $400 million and there is any number of pharmaceutical companies out there with drugs to pedal. Surely we do have to be careful about how we go about deciding which drugs are added.
JAN MCLUCAS: Absolutely and we do not resile from that. There has to be a very rigorous process. But in reality, what is happening time after time with Mr Abbott in charge, is that that process is completed and then the documentation just sits on his desk and he doesn’t take it to Cabinet and therefore people for example with breast cancer or diabetes continue to miss out on important drugs that will assist them to deal with their health problems.
So, Mr Abbott our Federal Health Minister has had the recommendation since April and as of mid July it still hadn't been approved. What can be the cause of such a delay? How many taxpayer dollars have been spent on hospitalisations in that time which could have been avoided by a lesser expenditure on Lantus? To say nothing of the stress which severe illness brings to the diabetic and their families?
I sent an email about this to Mr Abbott last week (4th August). I'm curious as to if and when I'll receive a reply - and what it has to say"
"Since late last year we've been paying out over $100 a time for a small vial of insulin for my husband. For a long time he's been a 'brittle' diabetic with difficult to control blood sugar levels, but for reasons still unknown (we suspect he may have had a bad batch of insulin) he ended up with sudden very very high blood sugar readings which had him hospitalised for around three weeks.
During that time a doctor suggested his diabetes would be better controlled with an insulin called Lantus, which we'd never heard of. Our regular doctor hadn't mentioned it because we're pensioners and it wasn't on PBS. However in desperation we read more about it and were told that listing on PBS was likely to occur 'very soon', so we decided to use it.
The results have been remarkable. Hubby's blood sugar levels are much more stable with a corresponding improvement in his overall health, not suffering the side effects of wild swings, and no more hospital visits.
But now, nearly 12 months later and Lantus is still not listed on PBS. Why? How many hospital admissions could have been saved in that time if it had been more readily available for people such as my husband who have a particularly 'brittle' form of Type 1 diabetes?
In trying to find some recent news about the progress of PBS listing of Lantus, I found this transcript of interview on Sky News with Jan McLucas on 16 July 2006. Here's parts of that interview.
INTERVIEWER: You have been quite critical of the process today, how long do you think it should take for a drug like Herceptin to be passed by the PBS?JAN MCLUCAS: Well, it should be a lot faster than Mr Abbott has dealt with a range of drugs. The Lantus example is a fine one. He has had that recommendation since April the 26th and yet today on the program he gave no indication as to when it would be listed.He is right it has to go through a process and part of that process is fixing an appropriate price. But Mr Abbott has form on this. He clearly has an attitude of go slow when it comes to listing important medicines.
INTERVIEWER: Surely they have to be quite careful with the process. We know that it is very expensive as we have heard with Herceptin it will cost taxpayers as much as $400 million and there is any number of pharmaceutical companies out there with drugs to pedal. Surely we do have to be careful about how we go about deciding which drugs are added.
JAN MCLUCAS: Absolutely and we do not resile from that. There has to be a very rigorous process. But in reality, what is happening time after time with Mr Abbott in charge, is that that process is completed and then the documentation just sits on his desk and he doesn’t take it to Cabinet and therefore people for example with breast cancer or diabetes continue to miss out on important drugs that will assist them to deal with their health problems.
So, Mr Abbott our Federal Health Minister has had the recommendation since April and as of mid July it still hadn't been approved. What can be the cause of such a delay? How many taxpayer dollars have been spent on hospitalisations in that time which could have been avoided by a lesser expenditure on Lantus? To say nothing of the stress which severe illness brings to the diabetic and their families?
I sent an email about this to Mr Abbott last week (4th August). I'm curious as to if and when I'll receive a reply - and what it has to say"
posted by GrannyLynda at 2:32 AM
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