However, what is worse for Ryan O’Rourke is that a drug that could help him is not funded by Pharmac. ‘‘It’s the scariest feeling ever.’’Taking a drug called Spinraza would stop the atrophy. ‘‘It’s one thing that I strongly believe is important, face-to face connections.’’ He believed it was not right Pharmac did not fund the drug. People with the condition have healthy muscles but because they lack the gene that creates the protein necessary for sending the signals to those muscles, the muscles waste. Since Budget 2019, 13 new medicines have been funded, including six new cancer treatments.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 01, 2020 20:26 UTC