Medicines Australia acknowledges the Government’s decision to temporarily allow for substitution of dose strengths

20/04/2020 –  

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, Medicines Australia acknowledges the Government’s decision to temporarily allow for substitution of dose strengths or forms of medicines by a pharmacist without reference to the patient’s doctor only if the originally prescribed medicine is in serious shortage (as deemed by the TGA) at the time. This should only be implemented within strict protocols released by the TGA. Click here for more.

Medicine Supplies in Australia

Medicines Australia (MA) is advising that Australia has sufficient supplies of medicines and are strongly discouraging the stockpiling or panic buying of medicines. It’s important that people, including those living with a rare disease, only obtain the medicines they immediately require.

MA has encouraged pharmacists and GPs to help manage the supply of medicines and support the Government’s purchasing limits on selected medicines. Useful links for more information:

COVID-19 limits on dispensing and sales at pharmacies

Limits on dispensing and sales of prescription and over-the-counter medicines

TGA cautions against over-buying medicines

TGA response to COVID-19

There are certain medicines deemed critical by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and MA. If there was no availability or if there was an interruption to treatment, this could result in significant health impacts. The other scenario being anticipated is an increased demand of some medicines due to COVID-19. See this list, published on the TGA website — other medicines may be added over time.

COVID-19 updates from the National Disability Insurance Agency

Here is a snapshot of the COVID-19 updates as of 25/3 from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA):

– If a participant has a scheduled plan review, the NDIA will contact them by phone or email to undertake their review. As part of this plan review process, a participant can discuss having a new plan in place for up to 24 months.

– The NDIA will be making changes to NDIS systems over the weekend to make sure participants have the funding they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

– To ensure participant plans don’t end, on the day a plan is due to expire, it will be automatically be extended by 365 days. Participants who have plans that expire soon, do not need to do anything to have their plans automatically extended by 365 days.

Click here for full details.