Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I will raise the issue of hyperemesis. As she is aware, it is a condition whereby pregnant people suffer from severe nausea and vomiting. It is very debilitating for people and can lead to many of them ending up in hospital through dehydration or weight loss. It impacts 1% to 2% of pregnancies.

There was a campaign by Hyperemesis Ireland relating to the medication used to treat hyperemesis, Cariban, which is incredibly expensive, prohibitively so for many women in their pregnancies. It can cost up to €3,000 over the course of a pregnancy, which is a huge amount of money. Hyperemesis Ireland campaigned to make Cariban a free medication for women. It is welcome that last year the Government recognised that campaign and made that medication free and available on the drugs payment scheme. That change was brought in on 1 January this year. Unfortunately, the joy and relief that came with that was very short-lived because the reality is the system that has been set up by the HSE in order for people to avail of Cariban is causing huge problems. There are significant barriers to people getting it.

Under the current system, to get this medication, women have to register and be seen by their consultant. Their consultant has to be the one to prescribe the medication for them. As the Minister will be aware, a pregnant person will not see a consultant probably for the first 12, 13, 17 or 18 weeks of her pregnancy and, during that time, she will have to put up with hyperemesis from very early in the pregnancy and suffer greatly. We are talking about people who cannot get off the sofa because they are so sick. They potentially have to look after other children, are not able to work and are not able to afford to go the private route for this medication.

I have heard from women who are not taking their full dosage because they cannot afford it. They are struggling to get to work while having other children to look after. It must be highly difficult for them to deal with. There are big problems because GPs are unable to prescribe this and you have to go to a consultant to get it. People are going to accident and emergency departments to try to get to the consultants. However, I have heard from women who have had to sit for six or seven hours in an accident and emergency department to get to a consultant. Then, when they get to the consultant, the consultant is not in a position to prescribe it for them or they may not get to see a consultant. I heard just today from someone who is 18 weeks pregnant, had her first consultant's appointment today, has had hyperemesis since her sixth week and has been paying €70 a week for that. When she went to her appointment today, she was informed that the consultants have had no contact from the HSE regarding the forms or the process by which they have to prescribe this and that they have no way of offering the hypothetical supports set out by the Government.

I think the Minister of State will appreciate that while it was a really positive thing that Cariban was made free under the drugs scheme, it is not working and there needs to be a review. Primary care and the GP should be the ones prescribing it in the absence of availability and access to consultants.

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