John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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163. To ask the Minister for Health if the drug Cariban available on the GMS and DPS schemes for the treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum for pregnant women will be made available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41428/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The HSE has statutory responsibility for medicine pricing and reimbursement decisions, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.

Cariban is not licensed as a medicine in Ireland, as it does not have a marketing authorisation from the Health Products Regulatory Authority or the European Medicines Agency.

For Cariban to be reimbursed through the community drug schemes, the supplier must first obtain a marketing authorisation and then apply to the HSE for reimbursement approval. In the absence of a marketing authorisation, the HSE is not in a position to consider whether it should reimburse this product.

However, the Deputy might note that some consultants prescribe Cariban and that some maternity hospitals dispense it to patients with severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.