Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 12 July 2017
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Funding of Orphan Drugs: Discussion
9:00 am
Professor Gerry McElvaney:
I do not think so. There are ways to get around it. Purchasing for bigger numbers leads to decreased costs. We have to control who prescribes drugs. We have to make sure those who prescribe know what they are doing and that it is being kept within a well demarcated area. There also has to be a review of a drug further down the line to see if it does what has been said it does. If not, we need to be prepared to pull it. There are a few things we have to do. We have to stake a claim that, while we want such drugs, we want them to be effective and that we will take all measures necessary to show that they are effective.