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Kia ora Vicki

 

Thank you for your enquiry. You have asked why the Arrow-Venlafaxine XR
and Efexor XR brands were removed when it was doing good for so many
people? 

 

As you know, there are three different brands of venlafaxine in New
Zealand: Arrow-Venlafaxine XR, Efexor XR and Enlafax XR. Arrow-Venlafaxine
and Enlafax XR have been assessed by Medsafe, part of the Ministry of
Health, to make sure they work the same way as the original brand of that
medicine, Efexor XR.

 

We have changed which brand of venlafaxine we fund. However, this does not
stop other brands continuing to be available in New Zealand.

 

Why did we change the brand of venlafaxine we fund?

 

PHARMACs job is to help New Zealanders by funding medicines from our fixed
budget. Changing funded brands is one of the ways we achieve this.
Changing which brand of venlafaxine we fund has meant $15M worth of
savings (over 3 years) that can be used to fund other treatments for other
patients. However, a decision to change a brand of medicine, especially
one as important as venlafaxine, isn’t taken lightly. 

 

Before deciding to change the funding on a brand, we get expert clinical
advice to make sure it’s appropriate to for people to change brands of
medicines. If our clinical advisers said it wasn’t appropriate, we
wouldn’t make the change, regardless of the savings we could achieve. 

 

What to do if you are having difficulty with the new brand of venlafaxine?

 

You mentioned you are having difficulty with the new brand of
venlafaxine.  It’s important that if you feel your treatment is not
working, you talk to your doctor. It may be that your doctor can apply to
us for funding through the exceptional circumstances framework.

 

You can find the application form and further information about this
process on our website at [1]www.pharmac.govt.nz/nppa.

 

We are also encouraging everyone to report their experiences to CARM
(Centre for Adverse Reaction Monitoring). CARM monitors and analyses the
reports to ensure the safety of medicines in New Zealand. You can report
to CARM yourself or your health care professional can report on your
behalf.

 

You can find out more information about CARM and how to report on their
website at [2]https://nzphvc.otago.ac.nz/carm/.

 

We want to make sure you get all the information you need so if you have
any more questions or concerns feel free to give us a call on 0800 66 00
50.

 

Thank you for getting in touch with us about your concerns which we do
take seriously.

 

Ngā mihi nui

Sarah

PHARMAC

 

-----Original Message-----
From: VICKI CAREY [mailto:[FOI #8655 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 1:44 PM
To: Web Enquiry <[email address]>
Subject: [SPAM]? Official Information request - Arrow Venlafaxine needs to
come back under NZ funding.

 

Dear Pharmaceutical Management Agency,

 

As from the 6th September 2018 I went off Enlafax as I had seen TV1 news
about this product and that so many other people were having the same
problems with it as I did.

Why was Arrow Venlafaxine removed when it was doing good for so many
people and also the brand Effexor?

By now you probably have received so many complaints.

Well many of us that are back on Arrow want to know is Arrow going to stay
on the market and or be funded again or do we ONCE AGAIN HAVE TO CHANGE
MEDICATIONS.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

VICKI CAREY

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[3][FOI #8655 email]

 

Is [4][PHARMAC request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Pharmaceutical Management Agency? If so, please contact us
using this form:

[5]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[6]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

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