Multiple sclerosis patients given PBS lifeline amid drug pricing dispute
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler has secured a temporary agreement to keep three MS medications on the PBS while a review is conducted. This move avoids a scenario where patients would have been forced to pay up to $33,000 annually for their treatment.
Why it matters
It highlights the ongoing tension between global pharmaceutical pricing demands and national healthcare affordability schemes.
MS drugs including Ocrevus, Kesimpta and Lemtrada were part of the pricing stoush. ( Unsplash: Etactics )
Australians with multiple sclerosis will continue to receive subsidised access to life-changing medications at the centre of a pricing dispute with global drug makers.
This means patients will not have to pay out as much as $33,000 for their prescriptions privately, as had been feared.
Health Minister Mark Butler has accepted independent advice for a rapid review of MS drugs to ensure they remain available on the PBS.
Link copied Share Share article Life-changing drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) will remain subsidised for Australians as Labor pledges to resolve a pricing dispute with global drug makers without leaving patients further out of pocket.
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