Doctors and patient support groups are urging the government to lift ‘senseless’ prescribing restrictions on drugs used to treat PAH in the lead up to a post market review of the medicines.
In submissions to the Department of Health review several medical specialists have criticised the current PBS restriction criteria for being out of step with international guidelines and evidence-based recommendations, which they say could lead to ‘inferior’ patient outcomes for Australians being treated for the condition.
Dr Richard Whitaker, Emergency medicine physician at Cairns & Hinterland Hospitals and Health Service in Queensland said it was difficult for patients and doctors to understand why more combination therapy was not available in Australia while patients overseas can easily access those treatments.
“Australian patients are very well informed and interact through social media with patients and patient groups overseas. There is a significant disparity in treatment options that patients are very well aware of,” he said in his submission.
Dr Whitaker, who revealed he is also the father of a child who died from PH, argued that current outcome measures that determine whether a patient gets reimbursed for treatment, such as the six minute walk test– are not suitable for measuring disease progression or response to treatment.
“Patients have significant issues with the absolute six-minute walk test (6MWD). Despite there being a national guideline on how to perform this test, patients report significant disparity between its performance in different centres, and also at different times in the same centre,” he said.
Patients from regional centres are often compromised by long travel and frequently feel they have not performed their best, he added.