This required major heart surgery in Auckland in early 2019.
Andy Dickerson/Supplied
Dickerson says he shouldn t have had to diagnose himself, but he is happy with the care he is receiving. He then went through a battery of tests to confirm his life span and quality of life could be much improved by accessing peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). The therapy, which uses drugs to identify and attack cancer cells while reducing harm to healthy tissue, was only available in Melbourne at the time. It has been funded in Australia for years, but New Zealanders used to have to fork out about $60,000 to access the treatment there.
Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
Dr Cynthia Sharpe today told an inquest into six patients who died after changing brands of lamotrigine that she had strong concerns about the Pharmac brand switch. I have serious concerns regarding the therapeutic equivalence of two generic medicines for epilepsy - levetiracetam in 2015 and lamotrigine currently - and our inability to discount the lamotrigine brand switch as the cause of the seven deaths that have occurred.
In 2019, Pharmac forced more than 10,000 people taking lamotrigine to change to a generic called Logem in a bid to save $30 million over five years.
Dr Sharpe, who works for the Auckland District Health Board, said she was generally a supporter of the Pharmac model but New Zealand needed stronger safety systems when switching people to generic drugs.
Press Release – IDC AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 4, 2021 IDC Asia Pacific today announced that seven New Zealand projects have been shortlisted as finalists in the 2020 IDC Asia Pacific Smart Cities Awards (SCAPA). The annual awards highlight and acknowledge outstanding …
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 4, 2021 – IDC Asia Pacific today announced that seven New Zealand projects have been shortlisted as finalists in the 2020 IDC Asia Pacific Smart Cities Awards (SCAPA). The annual awards highlight and acknowledge outstanding smart city initiatives in the Asia Pacific region and this year reached new heights receiving over 260 smart city initiatives from the public sector and technology suppliers from across the region, with only 70 of these projects being named as finalists across 14 functional eService Categories. The Awards are now in the public voting phase and voting for the deserving finalists will be open only until
Press Release – IDC AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 4, 2021 IDC Asia Pacific today announced that seven New Zealand projects have been shortlisted as finalists in the 2020 IDC Asia Pacific Smart Cities Awards (SCAPA). The annual awards highlight and acknowledge outstanding …
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 4, 2021 – IDC Asia Pacific today announced that seven New Zealand projects have been shortlisted as finalists in the 2020 IDC Asia Pacific Smart Cities Awards (SCAPA). The annual awards highlight and acknowledge outstanding smart city initiatives in the Asia Pacific region and this year reached new heights receiving over 260 smart city initiatives from the public sector and technology suppliers from across the region, with only 70 of these projects being named as finalists across 14 functional eService Categories. The Awards are now in the public voting phase and voting for the deserving finalists will be open only until