Doctors are concerned a rumoured government plan to have patients prescribed cheaper generic drugs over brand names could pose health risks for ethnically-diverse communities.
Under changes to be announced in next week’s budget, the federal government is slated to alter doctors’ prescribing software so they must pick out a branded drug rather than the generic version under an opt-out process, the ABC reports.
The Australian Medical Association’s vice president Tony Bartone argues this is a concerning prospect for people for whom English is a second language.
“In ethnically-diverse communities … there is an enormous reliance on what the doctor prescribes and what the doctor informs in terms of ensuring medication compliance,” he told SBS News.
“I might say, ‘The blood pressure tablets that you’re currently on … I want you to continue them twice a day’, and the patient knows what I’m talking about.
“If I say ‘I want you to take the hydralazine’, they’ll look at me as if I have two heads.
“They really get easily confused and anything that gets in the way of that confusion further adds to that.”
Dr Bartone said the proposal could even pose health risks if patients “double-up” on their medication.
“They might look at the label and read that it’s the same as another one, but they’ll look inside the pack and see it’s a different colour and think it’s a different one.
“It wouldn’t be the first time a patient has taken two of the same medication but different trade names, different colours, different packaging, different appearances."
He said while in most cases it may not an issue, there was still a small chance of error.
“It can become an inadvertent medication error which requires hospitalisation.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt has refused to confirm the proposal is in the works, saying his priority was to give paitents the best access at the lowest cost.
"Anything that we do is about reinvestment in the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme). This means more drugs at lower costs, better healthcare for all Australians," he told the ABC.
The idea has the backing of The Pharmacy Guild.
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