KEY POINTS:
Critics say the provisional agreement by district health boards to fund cancer drug Herceptin for nine-week courses of treatment is more to do with dollars than good sense.
"The nine-week combination Herceptin treatment that Pharmac is offering is unproven and based on a very small sample of women in a Finnish trial," National Party associate health spokeswoman, Jackie Blue said.
A former breast physician, she said she believed the funding decision had been made some time ago and was ill-informed.
"The wider issue here is New Zealanders getting access to affordable life-saving drugs."
Dr Blue was speaking after the Government's drug-buying agency, Pharmac, confirmed that district health boards had provisionally approved funding for Herceptin for women with early breast cancer.
The approval for a nine-week treatment for women with HER2 positive cancer is expected to cost $6 million. About 350 women are affected by the change, due to take effect from June 1.
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition chairwoman Libby Burgess reiterated criticism of the funding of nine-week treatments, saying they were not proven to be effective.
"Pharmac's decision is based purely on cost and not on evidence and we think that if this proposal is accepted it will set a very dangerous precedent that will allow the bureaucrats in Pharmac to prescribe for us, rather than our doctors."
New Zealand women were being treated on an inferior regime, she said.
The process to secure the drug, which has been the subject of an intense lobbying campaign, still has a few more hurdles to pass.
There has to be a period of consultation and final approval is needed from drug agency Pharmac.
The treatment plan, criticised in some quarters by those who favour a 12-month plan used overseas, was recommended by Pharmac - leaving DHBs to decide whether to fund the nine-week scheme. DHBs pay for hospital provided drugs.
Wairarapa DHB chief executive David Meates, a spokesman for DHBs, said today that a concern surrounding the 12-month treatment option was that the $25 million cost would curb DHBs' ability to fund other drugs and deliver existing hospital services to other patients.
Mr Meates said the consideration of Herceptin was a priority for DHBs and Pharmac. But it was also important to ensure others with high health needs, such as people with heart problems or diabetes, did not miss out on health funding.
The nine-week proposal was strongly supported by DHBs. It includes wider access to the breast cancer drug Docetaxel (Taxotere) so it can be used in combination with Herceptin.
Pharmac deputy medical director Dilky Rasiah said Herceptin was a challenging issue for Pharmac and DHBs and the proposal released today was a practical way forward.
The nine-week treatment, combined with a taxane (cancer drug) such as Docetaxel, was proven to reduce the chances of breast cancer returning, she said.
It was delivered in a shorter time and may cause less damage to the heart than the 12 month treatment, said Dr Rasiah, who added it was the most cost effective option.
The deadline for Pharmac to receive feedback on the proposal released today is April 12.
Senior doctors advising Pharmac on the implementation of Herceptin had wanted New Zealand women to receive a 12-month course but were overruled by management.
Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition chairwoman Libby Burgess has said the nine-week recommendation is cheap and unethical, saying it was "throwing New Zealand women a few crumbs".
Herceptin manufacturer Roche Products (New Zealand) Ltd said today's decision was a compromise and a disappointment.
- NZPA
