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

was suffering would not pass the rarity criteria and would not be considered for
an Exceptional Circumstances subsidy. In this, King behaved as an electorate
MP would, not as a Minister.
What Did the Headlines Say?
The headlines to these media reports did not accurately reflect the content of
the report. Some headlines were quite misleading and some were very
accurate. For example, the headline “A matter of life and death and how to pay
for it” was misleading in its content. The patient in this story had a terminal
illness and the drug which the patient wanted PHARMAC to subsidise could not
save the patient’s life. The patient’s doctor was not sure if it would even help
the patient to feel any better, yet the editor presented the case as ‘life and
death’.
Another headline stated “Drug too costly for arthritis sufferer”. This was a
misleading headline because it suggested that PHARMAC would not provide a
subsidy for the drug and therefore the patient had to pay privately to receive the
drug. In fact neither the patient nor the manufacturer had applied to PHARMAC
for a subsidy for the drug. The headline gives a false impression that the
patient had been rejected by PHARMAC for a subsidy when in fact he had not.
Finally, “New drug rules a death sentence” was an emotive and misleading
headline which was misleading in content and tone. The patient in this story
was taking a drug which PHARMAC removed from the subsidised schedule and
replaced it with another. She had not applied for a Community Exceptional
Circumstances subsidy which PHARMAC urged her to do. The unsubsidised
drug cost her $2 per day for which she could claim a WINZ benefit if she could
not afford to pay for the medicine herself.
Section 4: Key Informant Interviews
Introduction
Key informant interviews were conducted as part of this research to provide
context to the formation, operation and effects of PHARMAC’s Exceptional
Circumstances policy. Key informants were selected because of their
knowledge and experience of the PHARMAC policy. An outline of the method
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