Photo / LDRPharmac's decision to fund only limited access for two new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes could see up to 140,000 people with the condition miss out, a doctor says. Dr John Baker​, the chair of the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, says that has to change and highlights the shortcomings of the government drug funding agency's funding model. According to Pharmac the gross cost for funding the two drugs was estimated to be $125 million over five years. Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa chairman John Baker says newly released figures from Pharmac show up to 140,000 people with type 2 diabetes could miss out on treatment from two new drugs it approved late last year. "The thing about these two drugs, empagliflozin and dulaglutide, is that they are the first to influence outcomes such as death, heart disease and kidney failure," he said.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 11, 2021 05:36 UTC