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Eight-year-old Grant Celliers' parents can vividly recall the time he was switched to a new drug to control his behavioural problems after Pharmac stopped subsidising his regular medication, Ritalin.
He rapidly spiralled out of control and was stood down from school.
Grant, of Torbay on Auckland's North Shore, suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's syndrome.
With Ritalin, his parents say he lived a normal life and showed promise in his schoolwork. But once he was switched to Rubifen, Grant admits "I felt a bit stressed".
The Government ended subsidies for Ritalin in April, having switched funding to Rubifen. Health Minister Pete Hodgson defended the move in Parliament yesterday, saying it saved $1 million a year.
Grant's mother, Di Celliers, is now spearheading a campaign to reinstate the Ritalin funding.
Grant went on to long-acting Rubifen for three weeks last month. Mrs Celliers said the results were disastrous and he was put back on Ritalin, for which the family now have to pay about $50 a month.
"It was like there was another child there altogether. It was very scary to watch him. He was almost bordering on psychotic."
She wants the Government to subsidise Ritalin for children who react badly to Rubifen and has spokento a number of other parents withchildren whose experiences mirror Grant's. Some are paying up to$140 a month for Ritalin.
Paediatric Society president Dr Nick Baker agrees with Mrs Celliers' call, as does the ADHD Association, which is supporting a petition asking for the complete reinstatement of the Ritalin subsidy.
Mrs Celliers said Grant, who could be a sweet and empathetic child, became easily distracted, irritable and aggressive at his school, Glamorgan, pushing and hurting other children.
The principal stood him down for two days, citing his continual disobedience.
"At the end of the three weeks," Mrs Celliers said, "we went back to Ritalin and there was pretty much an immediate change. It took a week after going back on to Ritalin for his behaviour to completely go back to what it was [before Rubifen] - much calmer, much more focused and aggression had died down completely. He was back to getting daily report cards from his teacher that were very positive."
About 6000 people at any time and more than 10,000 a year take methylphenidate, the active ingredient in Ritalin and Rubifen.
Medicines agency Pharmac says the two pills are "bio-equivalent", having the same effect.
Medical director Dr Peter Moodie said most patients should notice no difference, although a few might need to change their dose.
Mrs Celliers said this had been tried but had not helped Grant.
National Party associate health spokesman Jonathan Coleman tackled Mr Hodgson on Rubifen and urged reinstating the Ritalin subsidy for children intolerant of Rubifen, like Grant.
But Mr Hodgson repeated Pharmac's assertion to the House: "The drugs are the same."
He admitted: "The coating of the drug might have caused some effects in some children. This is happening to a very modest degree."
He said Otago University's Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring had received fewer than 20 reports on Rubifen and no pattern had emerged.
Mrs Celliers urged parents to ensure they or their doctor reported any bad reactions linked to Rubifen.
Dr Baker said it was hard to identify effects that could be attributed to changing as children on the drugs often had unstable spells.
"But if parents have an opportunity to blame something on it, they will and if it occurs at the same time, they might be right."
Pharmac should reinstate Ritalin funding for those in whom Rubifen clearly did not work as it had done in the past with some other medicines.
"It might only be that 10 per cent or 15 per cent of families may have needed to remain on the old one, but that would have given a lot more flexibility for families."
- additional reporting Errol Kiong
