TL;DR
An Australian pharmacy will continue to send lower-cost diabetes equipment across the Tasman, despite a cease and desist from a medical manufacturer.
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“This is $130 that my whānau, and many other whānau, could have in their pocket each month,” she told them.
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manufacturer Medtronic had sent David Jones Pharmacy a letter threatening legal action if the company continued to supply Kiwi customers with the sensors.
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The pharmacy was “not a legally authorised distributor of Medtronic diabetes products in New Zealand”
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“We have chosen to ignore [the letter] as it was built upon unsubstantiated accusations,” Le said.
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“It creates a massive inequity for families who don’t have the financial means to pay a weekly amount, and it’s also a contributing risk to longer term health outcomes.
“It’s really expensive to keep them alive. By not funding [sensors] you are risking the lives of kids who don’t have that layer of privilege.”
I fucking hate this bullshit. Hong Le is a hero.
There’s some scummy business practices in the healthcare industry, so I’m happy to see these guys being undercut like this.
Intermed’s sales and marketing manager Robert Cooper told Bennett that New Zealand and Australia had “different healthcare and government funding mechanisms”, and said the sensors were subsidised by the Australian government.
That’s the meat and potatoes, right there. Is this assertion true? Are these things subsided in Australia and not New Zealand? If that’s the case, by how much? And what would the cost be if they were subsided the same amount in New Zealand?
I don’t really understand exactly what they even are, let alone how to Google whether they are subsided in Australia. As a general rule, products subsidised at the pharmacy usually can’t be bought online. You need either a prescription from a doctor or Medicare card.
This seems in respect to continuous glucose monitors (CGM’s), a device used by diabetics to continuous monitor their blood glucose levels rather than finger pricking and testing blood samples. A CGM requires sensors which need replacing regularly.
First off there are 2 types of diabetes. Type 1 where the body no longer produces its own insulin, and Type 2 where the bodies insulin levels produced are reduced. Type 1 requires insulin to be introduced via injections or pump. Type 2 typically is controlled by oral medications.
For a lot of diabetic patients a CGM massively improves their control of glucose levels which in turn greatly reduces the chances of developing diabetes related complications.
Pharmac were in the process of evaluating CGM’s such that the very high ongoing costs would be removed, or at least reduced, for all NZ Type 1 diabetics. They were already specially funded for some really unwell youngsters, but I saw recently that the new government seems to have withdrawn that. IDK the stated reasoning though, I guess to save money.
I’m a T1 diabetic, it is a VERY serious lifelong condition, typically appearing in youngsters, I was 9 when it appeared, but sometimes it occurs in older patients.
It seems Pharmac are current;y close to subsidising CGM’s and pumps for all Type 1 Diabetics. That should prevent the need to bypass the system to get the meds/devices needed.
I wait until it really happens on 1 July 2024 to be sure though. Wouldn’t surprise me if Diabetics who have good control over their condition might be excluded due to costs.
