Leisa Renwick has told a Parliamentary committee that her fight to get Keytruda funded shows the need for Pharmac to be reformed so desperate patients can access new drugs faster.

After spending $100,000 on drug Keytruda, Deanna Trevarthen's tumours are shrinking and she is preparing for her next fight - to change ACC legislation.

Melanoma patients are likely to get a second drug treatment option under a new proposal to provide state funding of Keytruda.

COMMENT: The cost and availability of expensive new medicines like Keytruda are still at risk from the TPP despite government assurances.

It sounds hollow, hypocritical and heartless every time National says that decisions on funding must be left to Pharmac, writes Audrey Young.

WATCH: Auckland student owes his life to the generosity of strangers, friends and family who raise money for life-saving melanoma drugs.

Patients who have had miraculous results with melanoma drugs will join dying patients and their families to petition Govt to boost funding for Pharmac.

New Zealand is about to have the honour of hosting the formal signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement by trade ministers from 12 nations of the Pacific rim.

In New Zealand we have a love/hate relationship with Pharmac, the agency that decides which drugs our Government will pay for.

Pharmac is possibly the most publicly respected body in this country.

A campaign for state funding of a costly new drug for melanoma has been derailed by a "low priority" ranking at Pharmac.

The price for one year of perfect health for a NZ patient turned out to be $35,714 in Pharmac's funding of new medicines in the last financial year.

Tim Groser has a sales job in front of him after the Trans-Pacific Partnership kept the doors open wide to foreign investment in Auckland's red hot housing market.

Most people will be more than aware that, like all public relations campaigns, this one will not reveal the full picture.

It may be difficult at first for observers to grasp the magnitude of what has happened with the trade liberalisation deal just reached in the TPP.

FRAN O'SULLIVAN: Geneva has the WTO. Brussels hosts the European Union. Will the Trans-Pacific Partnership put Auckland on the map?

The TPP could be improved after a few years, Trade Minister Tim Groser has said, acknowledging NZ lost against powerful forces that limited dairy sector rewards.

New Zealand and 11 other countries strike Pacific trade pact - a deal that will affect 40 per cent of world's economy.

An overwhelming number of New Zealanders support the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use, the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey shows.

"Making normal sexuality into a medical problem is an easy PR task with enduring serious consequences for the health of NZ women."

Prime Minister John Key says signing up to the Trans Pacific Partnership could stop the Government from banning house sales to non-residents, but alternative measures including a stamp duty or land tax could still be introduced.

Leading American trade economist Professor Peter Petri is optimistic that the Trans Pacific Partnership will turn out to be less damaging to Pharmac than people fear.

New Zealand is heading towards a two-tier health system, and it could get a whole lot worse, writes George Laking.

New Zealanders' access to safe and affordable medicines could be limited under a massive trade deal being secretly negotiated, opposition parties say.

Alarm at the provisions of a leaked draft of the investment chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is premature to say the least, says Stephen Jacobi.

When her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer in November, Abbey Looker decided she couldn't walk down the aisle with anyone but him.

A teenager with a life-threatening illness has had a "miracle" response to a drug Pharmac said it wouldn't fund.

Despite being born only two minutes apart, Axel is considerably smaller than his twin brother, and has a raft of significant health problems to boot.

Obesity might be a risk factor for gout, but new research has suggested that being overweight doesn't make the condition any worse.