3 months Ago
The survey showed that 69 percent had been asked to switch medication in the previous 12 months. Yet, only 15 per cent of those changes were medically necessary. The analysis, which included 116 cooperatively delivered services, found that slightly more than half of the changes were ordered by health insurers trying to steer customers towards cheaper services: 29 per cent of total cases. More worryingly, pharmacists did not explain the change in 21% of cases.
The situation is all the more grave because changing a medication can bring disaster to lung patients. Other brands or constituents might produce such things as dyspnea and worsening of lung function. Many patients only respond well to particular brands, and needlessly changing can result in hospital admissions and distress.
Agreements Ignored Despite Clear Guidelines
Two years ago in September, healthcare groups that included pharmacists, insurers and doctors agreed to discourage unnecessary medication switches. The contract stipulates that lung patients should switch to cheaper medication just once every four years.
However, there is no practical implementation of this agreement. In the meantime, profit-first health insurers are insisting on the cheapest available drug each year, and so polymorph changes are made to comply with condition associations. Pharmacists often feel forced to follow insurer policies, even if they are not in the best interest of patients.
Real-Life Impact on Patients
Shashi Gokhar, a patient, talked about her own experience of the loss it leads to. Even with the agreement, she had to change medications in September 2024 due to the carrier's policy. She did not respond to the new medication, and her lung function plummeted. For the first time, she went from treating herself when she was relatively healthy to experiencing severe breathing difficulty, sleep difficulty, and other health problems.
Within two months, she had suffered a panic attack from the fear that she would suffocate and fainted, which led to her hospitalisation. Then her doctor put her back on the first drug, and she improved again. Even then, her local pharmacist declined to give the prescribed medication due to pharmacy policy rules until the head pharmacist returned from holiday. A personal stash of medicine was the only reason she missed a second near-fatal incident.
Call for Action and Accountability
Gogar is far from the only one, notes Károly Illy, the Dutch Lung Foundation director. He quizzed the ongoing non-compliance of the agreement and called on pharmacists to fight for patient rights by claiming after four years. He suggested that pharmacists must be firmer when dealing with insurers.
The pharmacists' association KNMP understands the pressure from health insurers, but says that wouldn't be achieved through closer consultation to properly implement things. Vice-chair Reinier Bax also inadvertently revealed that the party would get back together with all of these parties in question if they believed the original agreement was not being properly followed.
But Illy says it's cut and dry. Pharmacists are entitled to uphold their agreement and care for their patients. This situation must change."
