How does the operation of PHARMAC's 'Community Exceptional ...

the PTAC committee. He described New Zealand as suffering from ‘severe
tunnel vision’.
Only one doctor, rheumatologist Dr. Sue Rudge, took the view that while she
agreed that her patient would have benefited from a subsidy on a new and
expensive drug, she was more concerned for all the other patients who need
financial support from PHARMAC. The eight other doctors who expressed
themselves were mainly negative about PHARMAC. These doctors made no
comment with respect to the wider patient population and concentrated on the
needs of the individual whom they represented.
In three of the media stories PHARMAC was criticised for not providing the
patient with a subsidy under Community Exceptional Circumstances, yet the
patients had not made a claim for one. Under the PHARMAC rules, the doctor
is required to make the case for the Community Exceptional Circumstances
subsidy on behalf of the patient. This demonstrated that either the doctor did
not know about Community Exceptional Circumstances or they were being
unfair to PHARMAC in the media.
The same problem was noted in relation to doctors criticising PHARMAC for not
funding a drug when the manufacturing company had not applied for a subsidy
for the medicine. It was possible that doctors in the stories did not know the
application system and gave a statement to the media in support of the patient’s
claim, or the doctor was attempting to put pressure on PHARMAC to fund the
drug. Through this method, the manufacturing companies used patient stories
(and support from doctors) to raise the profile of new medicines.
The Voice of Advocate Organisations
Advocate groups, or diagnosis type support groups for example the Multiple
Sclerosis Society, AIDS Foundation, Heart Foundation, Cancer Society
appeared in the media stories many times. These organisations advocated for
the patients in the media articles, expressing support for members in the most
tragic circumstances. The advocate groups often appear in the stories giving
information about the clinical conditions of the disease and how treatments
work. The advocate groups supported the person in the story and very often
implied that there are many other patients in the same situation. The Multiple
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