Well being the busy pharmacist I am, I haven't watched tv in years. So i presumed possibly that Lyrica is now on PBS list but probably needs to meet certain criteria and dr has to call Department of Health for authority.
So i relay this information to the patient, saying that it will be covered on PBS only if the doctor applies for authority. He didn't seem to believe me and thought that i was ripping him off.
My concern is, people watch stuff on TV and believe everything there but they don't read the fine print, and totally misunderstands the whole concept.
For example, last year when Medicare has the PBS reduction reforms, concessional card holders/ pensioners who were paying $5.80 (in 2012) per prescription, was upset that they didn't get a discount. And then when we tried explaining that the PBS reduction reforms do not apply to them, it only applies to General patients and pharmacies, they still didn't get it! Why? Coz the articles and news reports they read did not specify that PATIENT CO-CONTRIBUTION payments still remain the same!
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