30 October 2024
Jodie Bruning.
Via email:
[FYI request #28616 email]
Tēnā koe Jodie
Request for information: ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression Medication
Thank you for your request dated 2 October 2024 under the Official Information Act 1982
(OIA) for information relating to the medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
anxiety, and depression. You requested:
Please supply the following memos/advice/reports including reports and data for the
under 40s age group (this may be further segmented, e.g. by decade) for the years
2014-2024:
1. Numbers of prescriptions for ADHD medication, anxiety medication and
depression medication.
2. Evaluations of incidence/ co-prescribing of ADHD medication, anxiety
medication and depression medication.
3. Numbers of prescriptions for T1/T2 diabetes.
4. Information held by Pharmac concerning adverse events/side effects of ADHD
medication, anxiety medication and depression medication, including from co-
prescribing:
a. From other medicines regulators
b. Following reviews of the scientific literature
c. Supplied by the industry applicant.
In response to parts 1-3 of your request, you wil find the information you requested in the
excel spreadsheet attached. Regarding question two, Pharmac have defined co-prescription
as the number of patients that are dispensed combinations of medication and have provided
dispensing figures for years 2014-2024. Pharmac does not hold evaluation information on
co-prescribing. As such, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA,
as the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist.
Regarding part four of your request, Pharmac does not hold data on adverse event/side
effects for people who take the medications outlined, or from co-prescribing of these
medicines. As such, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as
the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist.
Please note in relation to part four, as you specifically requested what information was held
by Pharmac we did not seek a transfer to another agency. The Medsaf
e website provides a
directory for specific medicine datasheets that outline common side effects for medicines.
OIA2024-25-048
Additionally adverse event/side ef ect monitoring and reporting in New Zealand is the
responsibility of the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM), information on CARM
can also be found on Medsafe’s
website.
We trust that this information answers your queries. 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.
To make information more freely available, we publish selected OIA responses (excluding
personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about
this.
Nāku noa, nā
Oliver Whitehead
Team Leader, Government Services
OIA2024-25-048
qA71148
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