Update on how Pharmac is working with the recent Section 29 and 29A changes
- 3h
- 2 min read
We are writing to update you on how Pharmac is working with the recent changes to the Medicines Act 1981 that have been made to support the management of medicine supply issues.
Key messages:
Section 29 permits the sale or supply of an unapproved medicine to a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or pharmacist prescriber for the treatment of a patient under their care.
Section 29A permits the sale or supply of an unapproved medicine that is funded by Pharmac as an alternative to an approved funded medicine in short supply to any authorised prescriber for the treatment of a patient under their care.
This means that if a Medsafe approved funded medicine is replaced with an unapproved medicine due to a supply issue, any authorised prescriber may prescribe it under Section 29A for a patient under their care.
An authorised prescriber is anyone with prescribing rights as authorised by the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 and includes nurse practitioners, optometrists, dentists, registered midwives, and designated prescribers.
Sections 29 and 29A of the Act require the patient to be known at the time of supply. On this basis, supply on a Practitioner’s Supply Order is not possible. However, there are exceptional circumstances for some emergency medicines, when holding an emergency supply in stock may be essential for patient safety. In these circumstances, the pharmacist should ensure the prescriber agrees to supply the required details retrospectively.
Section 29A medicines can be found on the Pharmac website.
https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/medicine-funding-and-supply/medicine-notices
For individual supply issues, if the medicine is replaced by an unapproved brand, a Section 29A flag will appear at the top of its webpage.
To create a list of Section 29A medicines - on the left-hand side of the above webpage you can filter for Section 29A medicines.
The NZ Formulary website has a Pharmac supply information page – https://nzf.org.nz/pharmacsupply
For further information see the Medsafe webpage Use of Unapproved Medicines and Use of approved Medicines for an unapproved purpose
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Ngā mihi,
Pharmac Implementation Team
Pharmac | Te Pātaka Whaioranga | PO Box 10 254 | Level 9, 40 Mercer Street, Wellington
P: 0800 660 050 | www.pharmac.govt.nz