Health Minister Mark Butler has sought to reassure Australians that there won’t be any changes to the nation’s $18 billion Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) following calls for punitive tariffs on Australian medications imported by the United States.
U.S. pharmaceutical companies, via the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), have expressed concern about Australia’s PBS, which subsidises the cost of medicine so that residents can buy drugs at a lower price.
The PhRMA is hoping to use tariffs as a way to apply pressure to Australian authorities to allow for more U.S. drugs to be added on the PBS list of approved drugs….