HSE’s mounting drug budget needs a shot of strong medicine
Some new treatments cost well over €100,000 per patient, but there are effective ways to rein in expenditure
There has been much criticism of the finite drug budget we have in the health service. Last year, even though the HSE invested heavily and funded 29 new medicines, new approvals stalled.
Affordability has become a real issue, even though drug expenditure in Ireland is likely to exceed €2.5 billion in 2019. That represents approximately 17 per cent of total healthcare expenditure in 2019.
Some new drug therapies cost well over €100,000 per patient per ...
