Politicians trying to influence funding of high-cost drugs is a ‘concern’, Minister says
Ireland's Minister for Health has expressed concern over politicians lobbying the HSE to fund specific high-cost drugs. While acknowledging the pressure to advocate for constituents, the Minister emphasized the need to maintain a stable, evidence-based drug approval process.
Why it matters
It highlights the tension between individual constituent advocacy and the systemic management of national healthcare budgets for rare diseases.
There is “concern” about Irish politicians trying to interfere in the State’s process for funding expensive and rare drugs, according to the Minister for Health.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said TDs and Senators as “lawmakers and legislators” should be aware of the need to keep the HSE’s national drug approval process stable and predictable.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Carroll MacNeill said the health system is not being “uncaring or unthinking”, but buying expensive drugs with “very little effect” would compromise Ireland’s ability to buy future cancer drugs that work better.
Last month, the HSE agreed to reimburse the cost of a drug for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia , the rare genetic disorder. The drug omaveloxolone, which is branded as Skyclarys, does not cure the genetic disorder but has been found to slow its progression in some patients.
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