Health
Cancer drug costs funeral director $12,400 a month as pharmaceutical companies bypass Pharmac
A New Zealand funeral director is paying over $12,000 monthly for a cancer drug as global pharmaceutical companies stop seeking Pharmac funding.
Thread
Medicines funding access advocacy
Who covered this thread
RNZ 2 of 5 Stuff 2 of 5 Newsroom 1 of 5 1News 0 of 5 BusinessDesk 0 of 5 interest.co.nz 0 of 5 Newstalk ZB 0 of 5 NZ Herald 0 of 5 Otago Daily Times 0 of 5 The Spinoff 0 of 5
How many of this thread’s stories each outlet we track filed something on. A zero means no article of theirs reached any story here — an absence, not an accusation.
The story so far
Health
Wellington pharmacy unable to fulfil prescriptions for funded medications
A Wellington pharmacy says it will appeal a Health NZ decision to deny its application to dispense funded medications.
Health
Man with spinal muscular atrophy calls for funded treatment to be extended to adults
Ryan O'Rourke is urging access to spinal muscular atrophy treatment for adults, warning that delays risk permanent loss of function.
Politics
NZ must reconsider how to fund billion-dollar drugs, says former Pharmac chief
Sarah Fitt, who resigned from Pharmac amid criticism, argues for a new approach to funding expensive medications ahead of the 2026 election.
New Zealand
Installation features ‘forbidden’ medicines denied to New Zealanders
Patients waiting for life-changing medicines to be funded say people should not have to fundraise, go into debt, or travel overseas for treatments and therapies that could be administered here.