The Health Service Executive is not at present approving any new drugs that generate additional costs, due to financial pressures. The HSE said on Tuesday that it was authorising new drugs which were budget neutral or which resulted in savings being made. “The focus of your department needs to be on addressing the significant financial challenge facing the health budget rather than new initiatives”, Mr Donohoe told Mr Harris. “Therefore there is an imperative to ensure that these funds are not disbursed until this review has been completed. As early as last February it was reported that the HSE was running out of money for the introduction of new drugs this year.

Source: The Irish Times October 16, 2019 00:00 UTC