The Latest Breaking News from Pharmac

Analysis: It’s only taken 13 years! But this afternoon, health ministers are expected to announce a compromise that shares responsibility for procuring $1.5b of medical devices a year. Simeon Brown and his associate David Seymour are seeking to stamp their authority on Health NZ and Pharmac, after the agencies and their predecessors…

The United States pharmaceutical lobby has complained to US President Donald Trump that Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is damaging their profits and has urged Trump to put tariffs on pharmaceutical imports from Australia.

This week the coalition government made a significant investment in Pharmac, increasing funding by NZ$604 million over the next four years.

New Zealand’s decision to no longer offer free influenza vaccines for all children under 12 will likely wipe out recent gains in uptake. And it will disproportionately affect those living in deprived areas and with a high risk of disease.

I’m writing this with a dull ache in my left arm, sore from my third COVID booster. My second was in April when I also got a flu vaccination, which was funded by my employer. The arrival of the fifth wave of COVID in Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as…

We need to address the unnecessary and wasteful Medsafe approval for tried and tested drugs by much bigger regulatory authorities abroad, argues Dr Eric Crampton

Never before has Pharmac – the government’s medicine procurement agency and decision maker – featured so prominently in an election.

Michael Wood fielded questions alongside politicians from across the spectrum on the diabetes epidemic – could his appearance instead of Ayesha Verrall mark a return to a more prominent position within Labour?  

The National leader seems to be finding his feet ahead of the big show, starting in just a couple of weeks. Tim Murphy assesses him against past performances