133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T +64 4 496 2000
W www.medsafe.govt.nz
5 May 2026
David Robinson
By email: [FYI request #34400 email]
Ref:
H2026081056
Tēnā koe David
Response to your request for official information Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health – Manatū Hauora (the Ministry) on April 6.
On April 20, the below parts of your request were transferred to Pharmac, the Ministry of Justice,
and Health New Zealand. You can expect a response from these agencies in due course, and
can contact them here:
• Pharmac:
[email address]
• Ministry of Justice:
[email address]
• Health New Zealan
d: [email address]
- Provide information on how many medicines were imported where the original package
writing wasn't in English, which languages they were in, and what steps Ministry took to
ensure the provenance of the medicines. - Describe the number of deaths that were reported in association with suspicious or
unapproved medicines in New Zealand, since 2020, and where possible, provide an
estimate of how many deaths, and SAC1-4 incidents, may have been associated with
these, and what steps have been taken to investigate these. - Where deaths occurred in association with suspicious or unapproved medicines during
this time period, what was the interval between these being reported to Ministry and Health
New Zealand, and being reported to the coroner. What was the interval in them being
reported to the coroner. What was the interval in them being reported to police. - Where the deaths were already known to be unnatural (such as suicides or homicides),
and suspicious or unapproved medicines were used, what was the average interval
between being notified about these concerns, and notifying the coroner, police, courts,
prosecutors, and defendants? - For the large numbers of suspicious and unapproved medicines used across New
Zealand, outline the steps that Ministry and Health New Zealand took to ensure that health
managers were aware of this issue, and that clinicians knew about their obligation to obtain
consent and to provide open disclosure.”
The Ministry will respond to the rest of your request in turn:
- Provide information on Ministry, and Health New Zealand's guidance to organisations to
ensure that these medicines were known not to be counterfeit, expired, perished, nor have
any other issues with them.
Information is publicly available about the supply and responsibilities around unapproved
medicine. These can be found at the following links; therefore section 18(d) of the Act applies:
• Supplying unapproved medicines:
www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/unapproved.asp.
• Use of unapproved medicines and use of approved medicines for an unapproved
purpose:
www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/RIss/unapp.asp.
• Supplying products which are not approved medicines:
www.medsafe.govt.nz/complian
ce/Marketing.asp.
- Where intermediaries are known to have facilitated the importing and distribution of
suspicious or unknown medicines in New Zealand, what steps were taken to investigate
them and what actions were taken to prevent further harm, particularly in the context of the
current global supply shock. - Did any particular organisations use suspicious or unapproved medicines more than any
others, and if so, has Ministry or Health New Zealand, taken any steps to ascertain what the
reasons for this were, and to prevent any further harm?”
On 22 April 2026, you were informed by the Ministry that this part of your request covered a
substantial amount of information and you were asked to limit your request to certain types of
incidents, a time period, and to clarify the meaning of “intermediaries.” You were asked to
respond by close of business 24 April 2026.
As we have not received a response from you to date and the information requested is not made
with due particularity required by section 12 of the Act, the Ministry is unable to confidently or
comprehensively respond to your request. Please note that section 12(2) of the Act requires that
official information requested should be specified with due particularity in order for the
requirements of the Act to apply.
Accordingly, the above part of your request is refused under section 18(f) of the Act as the
information cannot be made available without substantial collation or research. I have considered
whether charging or extending the time to compile the information would enable us to respond.
However, I do not believe it is in the public interest to do so.
- What briefings did Ministry and Health New Zealand, receive about the supply chain issue,
and that there were potential issues with the supply chain.
Medsafe and Pharmac would receive information from companies on potential supply issues.
Partial transfer of this request under section 14(i) of the Act was queried, but they did not accept.
Owing to the wording of your request, the Ministry cannot confidently respond. We did ask you to
clarify on 22 April, but as we have not heard from you, this part of your request is refused under
section 18(g) of the Act.
- Provide information on the number of incidents submitted to health incident managements
systems, in both Health New Zealand hospitals, air and road ambulance, primary care and
private hospitals, and what steps were taken to communicate about this with health
providers.
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This part of your request is also refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act as the information is not
held by the the Ministry, and there are no grounds for believing it is held by another agency
subject to the Act.
Please note, the Ministry remains willing and engaged on any new and refined request you may
wish to make. The Ombudsman provides guidance on how to make requests at
www.ombudsm
an.parliament.nz/resources/making-official-information-requests. If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this decision, please feel free
to contact the OIA Services Team on:
[email address]. Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions
made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official-
information-act-requests. Nāku noa, nā
Chris James
Group Manager
Medsafe
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