Vol. 514 No. 5
163 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that quinine has been dropped from the consolidated drugs refund cover; and the reason this substance should not be available to patients for whom it is prescribed under the publicly funded schemes. [4742/00]
The drug payment scheme, with a threshold of £42 per month per individual or family, was introduced on 1 July, 1999 and replaced the drug cost subsidisation scheme – DCSS – and drug refund scheme – DRS. The primary aim of the drug payment scheme is to bring about important improvements over the previous schemes and the scheme is designed to be more streamlined, user friendly and to significantly improve the cash flow situation for families and individuals incurring ongoing expenditure on medicines.
A common list of reimbursable medicines was introduced for the general medical services scheme and the drug payment scheme. The introduction of the common medicines list ensures equity between the general medical services and the drug payment scheme in relation to the range of medicines paid for by the State under both schemes. This common list is subject to ongoing review and amendment on a monthly basis as new products become available, additions and deletions are notified on a monthly basis.
In order for any item to be included in the common medicines list it must comply with a published list of criteria. These criteria range from uses for and licensing of medicines to the pricing of products. With regard to quinine sulphate, this product is authorised for the treatment of malaria and for no other indication.
