The 'Dispatched' Podcast

Misleading claims about patient groups and the industry, combined with an irrational hyperventilation about a rational response to new global realities, have made for an interesting week. The price reduction mantra and whether it can be moderated?

A very busy week with mostly relief for patients accessing PBS-funded multiple sclerosis medicines, but what does it really mean, and what is the opportunity? Reports and their questionable citations. The most cynical use of language in our health system.

The MS medicines controversy continues. Why wouldn’t the minister just deal with it and make it go away? It may not be that easy. Why any resolution will probably deal with symptoms rather than the cause. The realities of ministerial offices and the challenges they face that are not visible to outsiders. Another 'phrase of the week' is dissected to reveal its true meaning.

A small player with no market share and no real prospect of gaining any agreed to an almost 50 per cent price reduction to secure reimbursement. Who would have thought the market leaders would respond negatively? Discussion about the change to nurse prescribing, which has been a feature of the PBS for more than 15 years, and concerns over vaccine hesitancy.

Congratulations to one of Australia's leading health journalists on a highly effective series of stories and commentaries that reveal the true extent of this country's challenge and the problems patients face in accessing medicines. A welcome hardening of the research-based industry's public position on the need for change, a very good report on a needed health technology, and another 'cheap' outcome for patients.

The emerging impact of China's use of international reference pricing might pose a significant risk to access to medicines in Australia. The critical importance of detail and getting the basics right when negotiating with the government - its ability to operate so effectively in the detail is how the government succeeds in these negotiations. Phrase of the week!

Why long-term thinking and planning are the key to success. What is the ten-year goal, and how does a new agreement progress that? Plan for policy and government engagement like it's a product launch. Also, is the problem with the HTA Review the process or the expectation? How a different starting point would have made this outcome positive.

Where did these industry agreements come from, and why? In the first episode of a two-part special, we discuss the genesis of the Australian government's agreements with the industry, based on personal experience, why they emerged as a solution to a decade-old challenge, and the problem they were aiming to solve. The opportunities, the risks, the vulnerabilities, and the importance of understanding how we arrived here.

Powerful patient stories stand in contrast to a decision-making framework that explicitly dehumanises their lived experience. The need for 'decency and compassion'. Week one of Senate Estimates, the challenge of saying one thing publicly and something else privately, and a Budget that revealed so much about what is coming.

There are enough measures and signals in this week's Budget to suggest medicines, vaccines and other technologies were discussed extensively in the process leading up to Tuesday's announcement. It might also help explain Health Minister Mark Butler's annoyance at one organisation's response. A Government response to a parliamentary inquiry triggered another odd response from stakeholder groups.