New cancer medicines can save money - research

  • 23/08/2016
New cancer medicines can save money - research

New Zealand's melanoma patients have been battling to get access to the life-saving cancer drug, Pembrolizumab, or Keytruda.

Pharmac finally approved the drug in early August, but only after the pressure had well and truly been put on.

Meanwhile, while they made up their mind, changed it and then changed it back again, and people's lives were put at stake.

One of the world's leading health economists, Professor Frank Lichtenberg, has been researching the data, and says new cancer medicines can actually save money. For every dollar invested in a new drug at least one dollar was saved downstream in healthcare systems.

He joined Paul Henry this morning.