Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am advised that eculizumab has been used to treat a small number of Degos patients in highly experimental trials in the US. The results of these trials have been inconclusive, with some patients showing signs of improvement, some getting worse, and one patient dying while receiving treatment. There is no strong clinical evidence or research to support the use of this medicine for the treatment of Degos disease. It is not my decision as Minister to license or authorise medicines and under the HSE governance Act I am barred from making any directions in respect of an individual patient. From what I have read, the case for using this medicine seems very weak. If that changes or if new evidence emerges, it can be reconsidered by the relevant authorities.

I am not familiar with the compassionate access scheme. I will certainly undertake to examine how it works, but I imagine it would have to be based on some evidence that it would be effective in some way. I hear what the Deputy is saying about compassion. One thing we always have to consider in health care is opportunity cost and use of resources. Even in the richest country in the world, resources are limited and if one has €400,000, does one spend it on a drug for whose efficacy there is no evidence or on ambulance or maternity services? We know spending more money on things like ambulance and maternity services would definitely save lives.

See this speech in context