Results 8,501-8,520 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: Yes.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: I echo the comments made by the two previous speakers and do not want to go over them again, but those speakers articulated the concerns, as has the Chairman, that have been given in evidence by representatives of people with epilepsy and in individual representations we have received. For a person with epilepsy, anti-epileptic drugs are like a pair of shoes. One cannot give someone a...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: This is an important issue and we have received many representations on this. We have also had hearings and I want clarification. I thank the Minister of State for his response. I again refer to the shoe analogy. If he goes into a shoe shop tomorrow morning to buy a pair of shoes and picks a pair out and the retailer says he has another pair in the same size that look the same but are...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: I made the point about pharmacists switching products.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: I was not questioning the professional competency of pharmacists in the matter. The point I was making was that in the instances to which I referred, pharmacists did not inform customers that they were replacing branded products with generic substitutes. There is provision for this to happen in the legislation, but there is no such provision in the existing legislation.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: The human dimension cannot be forgotten. In some cases, there may be a number of brands of a product that can be substituted. One can have Mrs. Murphy, for example, receiving brand A for her heart condition for the past six years but receiving brand B one day and brand C on another. This may be only one of her medications, as she could be on 15 tablets for 15 conditions. This switch could...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: I accept that it is not specific to this legislation, but the difficulty is that the enactment of the legislation will compound an existing problem. I know from first-hand experience that a person will ring up a health care professional and indicate that he is on a particular tablet and the professional will explain that it is for his heart. However, if the medications are being changed...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: That relates to the approved list and not to the fact that a pharmacist could administer medicines A, B and C to a patient in three consecutive months. The legislation is weak at the consumer end and it needs to be strengthened.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: Section 7(3) is similar to subsection (3) for the next series in chapter 2 and provides that where medicines for the patient or person acting on behalf of the patient are being substituted, the patient has the option of not agreeing to the substitution. If we take that in the context of the reference pricing that we will come to later, it means that if a patient refuses to take the...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: No.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin is correct that I am not questioning the professionalism of pharmacists. I believe they do an exceptional job. However, the difficulty is that in many cases what will happen is that GPs will prescribe the active ingredient and the pharmacist will fill the prescription based on the cheapest generic drug available. The pharmacist is complying with...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: I would like to ask a question on section 13. GP surgeries are extremely busy at the moment. They have a huge throughput of patients. When errors are made with prescriptions, the pharmacists pick it up 99.99% of the time. I will give the example of someone with epilepsy. When he or she gets to see a consultant, a prescription will be made after a series of trial and error uses of various...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: An issue has been brought to my attention recently with regard to UK citizens who are holders of medical cards. What are the implications, if any, for UK holders of medical cards in terms of their access to the general medical service? Will they be liable for the same charge as anyone else? I ask the Minister of State to clarify the agreement between Ireland and the UK. Is a person who is...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: The circumstances will be same for UK citizens. At the moment they are legally liable for the prescription charge, just as everyone else is.

Other Questions: Ambulance Service (20 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: To ask the Minister for Health the progress that has been made in the Health Service Executive West region since the introduction of standardised ambulance response times; the steps being taken to improve ambulance response times in the region; the way this is to be evaluated following the non implementation of Health Information Quality Authority standards; and if he will make a statement on...

Other Questions: Ambulance Service (20 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: I am disappointed that the Minister did not give more specific information on the provision of services in the West. As he is aware, response times in the west are some of the worst in the country. Difficulties include the wide geographical spread and the lack of adequate resources. The Minister's counterpart in Northern Ireland, the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety,...

Other Questions: Ambulance Service (20 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: It is a pity the Minister did not answer the question I put to him. What mechanisms are now in place to monitor ambulance response times, in light of the fact that the Minister has now stated that he is not going to comply with the HIQA criteria? I am surprised that the Minister is not aware of the coroner's comments, not only because of the extensive media coverage given to them but...

Other Questions: Ambulance Service (20 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: Will the Minister respond to the letter?

Other Questions: Ambulance Service (20 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: What about the ambulance base?

Other Questions: Ambulance Service (20 Mar 2013)

Denis Naughten: Hear, hear.