Pharmac allocates $18m to fight neuropathic pain

Pharmac will commit more than $18 million over the next three years to provide gabapentin to help people with severe neuropathic pain, the Government drug funding agency said today.

Pharmac medical director Dr Peter Moodie said the increased access to gabapentin (Neurontin) followed an agreement with Pfizer.

Gabapentin is already subsidised as a treatment for epilepsy, but Dr Moodie said funding it for neuropathic pain gave doctors further treatment options.

A common example of neuropathic pain is "phantom limb syndrome", when people experience pain from a limb that has been amputated. Neuropathic pain can also be experienced by people who have suffered spinal injuries, or by people with diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or who have undergone cancer chemotherapy.

Pharmac estimates between 3000 and 5000 people will be prescribed subsidised gabapentin. Access to the drug will be widened from July 1.

Pfizer New Zealand today welcomed the Pharmac decision, general manager Mark Crotty saying neurontin was widely recognised as the leading treatment for neuropathic pain.

"Neuropathic pain is a persistent condition which affects approximately 1 per cent of the population and is one of the most difficult types of pain to treat," he said.

- NZPA