Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When Senator Catherine Ardagh described something last week as the cruellest cut of all, she was referring to the decision of the HSE, endorsed by the Minister, to arbitrarily cut the use by thousands of people of Versatis patches by severely restricting reimbursement under the drugs payment and medical card schemes. It was estimated that up to 25,000 people were on Versatis patches and the Government has, by reducing the number of patches available by 90%, also reduced the cost by 90%. It has taken a vital medicine away from 90% of its users, for whom it was essential in their daily lives. These people are in chronic pain and it is the equivalent of shutting down the emergency department of each sufferer across the country.

The individual testimonies are heart-rending. For example, Catherine Carroll said every day is like a living hell and that the pain is unbearable. She cannot use other pain medicines because of complications. Ann Nolan Walsh tells the story of her 100 year old father, who was taken off the patches and is now in extreme pain, even from just trying to get out of bed. Barbara Donehy, a founding member of Patch Us Back Up, says sufferers do not live anymore but are existing day by day, and Jennifer O'Meara cannot even do things with the children. Her engagement with family life has been severely restricted by being taken off the patches as a result of this decision.

The "Liveline" programme, and its presenter Joe Duffy, has been the real patient advocate on this issue and hundreds of people have been in touch with the programme about it. There has been no bigger case for "Liveline" than this issue in terms of sufferers contacting the programme and that tells us something about the reaction to this decision across the country. These people, who are all in acute pain, contacted the programme to tell their own personal stories and to reveal their anger and disbelief. This patient evidence has been ignored.

John Lindsay, of Chronic Pain Ireland, says people in Ireland are in chronic pain and are suffering. He makes the point that there was no research and no thinking through of the decision. The suddenness was incredible and has caused enormous difficulty and pain for many people. This was about cutting costs but, overnight, it has visited great trauma on many families and thousands of people across the country. I ask the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to intervene to suspend this decision of the HSE and to put the patient at the centre of the issue, rather than on the periphery as has been the case to date. I ask them to do due diligence to enable people to get their lives back together again, to live meaningful lives and to live again as they had lived while on the patches.

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