Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to thank the Minister of State for coming to the House but I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy Harris, is not here. This is a serious issue and it is not being addressed. Since the removal of Versatis patches from the drug payment scheme some weeks ago, I, my Seanad colleagues and members of the Fianna Fáil Party have witnessed people's tears, desperation, distress and pain. The HSE introduced a new scheme for lidocaine, a 5% medicated plaster known as Versatis patches from September 2017. That was without what I would consider fair warning. I know the Minister of State said three months' notice was given but that was given to doctors. Many people buy them under the drug payment scheme or get them on their medical cards every few months, so that certainly was not long enough.

From 1 December 2017, non-shingle patients were no longer to receive this under the drug payment scheme. Doctors and consultants were still prescribing it but the patients could no longer access it unless they had the money to pay for it. I believe this is down to money and to someone in the HSE deciding that people in England, a larger country, were not using as many as people here. However, we have people crying in chronic pain but because we are spending too much, they are being told that they cannot have it. I have a major issue with this.

According to reports I read, more than 25,000 people were affected when Versatis patches were removed from the scheme in December following a review. Some have said their health and quality of life have rapidly gone downhill since. Versatis patches cannot be purchased without a doctor or consultant prescription. Doctors are still prescribing it. However, the HSE seems to think it knows more than doctors and consultants in regard to what is good for a patient. It points out that the patches are not licensed for use for many of the ailments for which they were being prescribed. Of the roughly 200 appeals the HSE received, it said that over 50% were accepted on clinical grounds. It also said it wrote to all GPs in August 2017 advising them of the changes and of alternative treatments and it published a patient information leaflet. Many people who spoke to me did not see it. The news came as a shock and a surprise to most, if not all, the patients who were told they could no longer receive the patches under the drug payment scheme.

Doctors, patients and their families took to radio shows, social media and places they felt they would be heard. The common thread in their conversations was these patches had become a lifeline and to take them away was cruel. The Department of Health said it had been informed by the HSE that it is possible for non-shingles patients to be approved for the patch under the scheme. We were told the patient's GP should apply to the HSE medicines management programme through the online system, and the application would be reviewed. Why are they making these people apply? It is online but the doctors have to do it for the patients. It has to be appealed through the doctor, if he or she has time as we are short of doctors. However, it has to be appealed every three months, which is disgraceful.

The issue at the heart of the matter for the HSE is that the patches cost too much and there had been a rapid rise in their use over the last number of years. The cost skyrocketed. This is an issue we need to look at. A lady who came to my clinic in Carlow told me the patches for one month cost almost €300. However, in Spain, they are cheaper.

Why did the HSE let the cost skyrocket in the first place? Why were these patches allowed to be prescribed in such volume, if they were not licensed? There are too many questions and too many people in turmoil because of this. The HSE, which works for us, seems to be allowed to do whatever it likes. There is no accountability. Nobody seems to be listening to the people who are drawing the short straw in every decision. People have been prescribed something that makes them feel better without the nasty side effects of other medications.

I call on the Department of Health to begin an immediate impact study of the withdrawal of Versatis patches from the scheme and a review of same. There is an online petition, which 7,000 people have signed, because people are in a terrible amount of pain. This is not about money but about people's quality of life and people who are in chronic pain. Their quality of life has been taken away. I ask the Minister of State to meet with the HSE and to say this is unacceptable. Please change this.