KEY POINTS:
Drug-subsidy agency Pharmac spent $772,000 defending a judicial review of its decision not to fund a year-long course of Herceptin for some breast cancer sufferers.
The figure was revealed in the agency's annual report released today.
The High Court decided in April Pharmac was within its legal rights to offer a nine-week course of the drug, but said it failed to properly consult on a July 2006 decision not to fund a year-long course of the drug and ordered it to do it again.
Pharmac consulted and redeliberated on the matter, coming to the same conclusion in August this year.
But the annual report said that, like other unfunded drugs, that decision was under regular review.
"Pharmac remains open to funding a longer treatment regimen of Herceptin if evidence suggests that it, relative to other medicines that could be funded, would achieve the best health outcomes for New Zealanders."
The report said Pharmac spent nearly all its budget in the 2007-2008 financial year, coming just $600,000 under its $636 million target.
- NZPA
