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

The Deputy will appreciate the limitations I am under when it comes to responding to questions about individual cases. I imagine the Deputy is aware that it would be illegal for the Minister for Health to give a direction to the HSE in a particular individual case. There is a reimbursement system in place. I have been advised that the following steps have to be completed when it comes to reimbursement. The patient’s consultant must be satisfied that all therapeutic options have been exhausted and prepared to accept responsibility for the monitoring of the patient’s response, side effects, etc. A prescriber applies to the Minister for a ministerial licence. If it is granted, the consultant completes an individual reimbursement form, setting out the therapeutic benefit for the patient. It must be completed in sufficient detail for the therapeutic benefit to be demonstrated. Thereafter, an individual reimbursement form is considered by the Medicines Management Programme, MMP. Following a review of the documentation, the MMP makes a recommendation to the HSE in favour of or against reimbursement support for the patient and of the patient's eligibility and informs the Primary Care Reimbursement Service, PCRS, of that recommendation. That is the process by which somebody can apply for reimbursement. I cannot say why reimbursement may be refused in an individual case. I hope this information is of some help to the Deputy.

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