Abstract
I was extremely surprised to hear of Lundbeck Australia's decision to have Clopixol 200 mg/mL and Fluanxol 20 mg/mL and 40 mg/2 mL formulations de-listed from the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as of 1 April 2011, apparently as the result of an unsuccessful price renegotiation. This leaves only one (clinically inconvenient) formulation of each medication. Most patients on these medications are unable to work, and the cost of obtaining a script privately will be prohibitive. The decision appears to have been made with no consultation with, or advance warning to, patients or their doctors. Inevitably, many patients whose symptoms are well controlled will have to change their medication abruptly. When the manufacturer was contacted, a representative said that the failure to give advance notice of this decision was ‘an oversight’. I appreciate the manufacturer's need to make such decisions on a commercial basis. However, people with long-standing psychotic illnesses requiring depot medication are amongst the most vulnerable in our society, and the company's decision to de-list these medications in such a surreptitious manner demonstrates a disappointing lack of consideration for their welfare.
As a clinician caring for patients who rely on these medications I hope the company will reconsider its decision and restore the availability of these formulations.