14 June 2023
Mr McDonald
Via email:
[FYI request #22833 email]
Tēnā koe Mr McDonald
Request for information: Medicinal cannabis prescriptions
Thank you for your request dated 17 May 2023 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)
for information relating to medicinal cannabis prescriptions. You requested:
Information regarding medicinal cannabis prescriptions
Q. How many patients have been prescribed medicinal cannabis since the
start of the legal medicinal cannabis scheme?
Q. How many prescriptions have been written for medicinal cannabis since the
start of the medicinal cannabis scheme?
Q. What is the average amount of cannabis prescribed per doctor's
prescription? Please provide your answer in units detailing quantity and
strength.
As you are likely aware, Pharmac is the government agency responsible for determining
which pharmaceuticals will be funded in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Pharmaceutical
Schedule lists all pharmaceuticals that are publicly funded by Pharmac:
https://pharmac.govt.nz/pharmaceutical-schedule/ Pharmac does not hold the information you have requested as there are currently no
medicinal cannabis products listed on the Schedule. This is because the national
pharmaceutical collection data only contains claim and payment information from
pharmacists for funded (subsidised) dispensings. Furthermore, the national pharmaceutical
collection data set does not contain information on the number of prescriptions written.
Therefore, we have declined your request for information under section 18(g)(i) of the OIA;
as Pharmac does not hold the information you have requested, nor do we believe that it is
held by another Crown organisation or local government authority. We also consulted with
the Ministry of Health (Manatū Hauora) and Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) in making
our decision on your request for information.
2022-23-153; A1683808
Named Patient Pharmaceutical Assessment applications for medicinal cannabis
Pharmac uses its Named Patient Pharmaceutical Assessment (NPPA) process to consider
whether to fund a treatment for an individual patient whose clinical circumstances are
exceptional. Pharmac has received 92 NPPA applications for medicinal cannabis products
since July 2013. Overwhelmingly, the applications did not meet the principles of NPPA and
were not approved.
As at June 2023, we have approved 9 NPPA applications to fund medicinal cannabis
products. These approvals were for individual patients whose clinical circumstances were
life-threatening and/or extremely severe. In all cases, all other treatment options had been
exhausted.
You can find more information about the NPPA process
here. Please note, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about our response
to your OIA, under section 28(3) of the OIA. Details of
how to make a complaint are on the
Ombudsman’s website.
Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this.
Nāku noa, nā
Allanah Andrews
Manager, Policy and Government Services
2022-23-153; A1683808
2
