Australian Senate report slams Cabinet PBS deferrals

A Committee report tabled in the Australian Parliament yesterday strongly criticising the government’s management of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme reflects grave community concerns, said trade group Medicines Australia chief executive Brendan Shaw.

The Senate Finance and Administration References Committee report on Government Administration of the PBS condemned Federal Cabinet’s decision to defer the listing of new medicines on the PBS. Dr Shaw said the Committee was sending the government a clear signal that the Cabinet should not interfere with the process of listing new PBS medicines.

Dr Shaw stated: “It is extraordinary that apart from the Department of Health, none of the 65 submissions to the inquiry supported the government’s action on this issue. Patients don’t support it, doctors don’t support it, the broader community doesn’t support it and industry doesn’t support it. The community has told the Committee unequivocally that it wants a return to the previous system of listing new medicines on the PBS that has served Australians so well for decades. That sentiment is reflected in the Committee’s report.”