Medicines Regulations changes around increasing the period of supply: conflict between the Regulations and the Pharmac Schedule
Tiffany Wright made this Official Information request to Health New Zealand
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From: Tiffany Wright
Dear Health New Zealand,
The Pharmac Schedule allows for funded dispensings of quantities greater than 90-day or 180-day lots at one time in some pragmatic circumstances such as Original Pack (OP) pharmaceuticals (e.g. Inhalers), items packed as Multiples (e.g. some Oral Contraceptives), items that last longer that three months (e.g. Insulin Pumps, Allergic Emergency devices such as Epipens, some Vaccines), etc. There may be other circumstances where the total quantity dispensed or the total number of days supply dispensed could have legally exceeded the prescribed amount for a three month prescription.
Changes to the Medicines Regulations 1984 around increasing the period of supply are in effect as of 1 February 2026. The changes increase the prescribing limit to 12 months and creates a new 3 month dispensing limit where there previously was no limit. The Pharmac Schedule typically funded dispensings only up to 180 days' supply of an Oral Contraceptive and up to 90 days' supply for other pharmaceuticals, but had rules allowing for exceptions in cases such as those listed above.
The Medicines Regulations as of 1 February 2026 does not have provision for dispensing more than these limits in the cases listed above (without authorization by the Director-General of Health for a patient, or a specified class or classes of patients). This creates a conflict between the Medicines Regulations and the Pharmac Schedule. This could result in dispensings that exceed the legal limits, more frequent dispensing of smaller quantities to not exceed the legal limits, and other unforeseen consequences.
I seek the following under the Official Information Act 1982 for the 2024 pharmaceutical year (1 February 2024 - 31 January 2025):
1. Where the days supply is recorded or calculated as exceeding 90 days' supply, excluding Oral Contraceptives, provide a count of:
* the number of dispensings; and
* the number of unique NHI (National Health Index) numbers recorded for these dispensings
2. Where the days supply is recorded or calculated as exceeding 180 days' supply for Oral Contraceptives, provide a count of:
* the number of dispensings; and
* the number of unique NHI (National Health Index) numbers recorded for these dispensings
Please use the same inclusion criteria given in the Technical information tab of the Pharmaceutical Data Web Tool https://tewhatuora.shinyapps.io/pharmace..., i.e.:
The inclusion criteria for the set of subsidised community-dispensed pharmaceuticals presented is as follows:
* have a date of dispensing between 1 Jan 2019 and 31 Dec 2024
* only includes pharmacy prescriptions (for individuals) and excludes bulk and practitioner supply orders, nicotine replacement therapy orders, haemophilia treatments, some treatments for hepatitis C and historic growth hormone information, vaccines, medicines for rare disorders, cancer and other hospital medicines
* excludes records created for the purpose of managing claims such as brand switch fees and 'owe claims' where prescription item was not filled
* excludes records where chemical formulation information was not recorded.
I also seek the same for the 2025 pharmaceutical year (1 February 2025 - 31 January 2026), acknowledging that the data may be currently incomplete.
Yours faithfully,
Tiffany Wright
From: hnzOIA
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From: Tiffany Wright
Dear hnzOIA,
Will you respond to this OIA request please?
Yours sincerely,
Tiffany Wright
From: hnzOIA
Kia ora Tiffany,
Thank you for your request for information regarding Medicines Regulations changes on 2 February 2026. Please find attached our response to your request.
If you have any questions, please get in touch at [email address]
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/ or by phoning 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi,
Anthea
Government Services
[email address]
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
-----Original Message-----
From: Tiffany Wright <[FOI #33624 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 3 March 2026 12:18 pm
To: hnzOIA <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Acknowledgement of request (HNZ00200325) CRM:0287044
[You don't often get email from [FOI #33624 email]. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]
Dear hnzOIA,
Will you respond to this OIA request please?
Yours sincerely,
Tiffany Wright
-----Original Message-----
Tēnākoe,
Thank you for contacting Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.
This is an automatic reply to confirm that we have received your email.
Depending on the nature of your request you may not receive a response for up to 20 working days.
We will try to respond to your query as quickly as possible.
Ngā mihi
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora.
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message
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From: Ombudsman New Zealand
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