For most of his life, Greg Giles has suffered with debilitating eczema.
“I just scratched and scratched whether I was awake, whether I was asleep,” Giles tells 9News.
He now relies on an injectable treatment, Dupixent, for the itchy skin condition, which causes redness, bleeding and at times infections.
“It was miraculous in term of the experience,” Giles said.
Nearly 20,000 Australians have taken up the medication since it hit the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme in 2021.
The treatment proving far more popular than expected, initially costing the federal government $270 million.
“It works quickly, within a few weeks and has a lot less side effects than the older treatments,” dermatologist Dr Warren Weightman said.
But this year the injection was at risk of being pulled from the PBS by the supplier, leaving patients to fork out $20,000 for a prescription – instead of $32 – or go without.
The Health Minister today announced a new deal has been locked in to keep the medication on the scheme.
“From the first of December we’ve got a confirmation that patients can have confidence that this treatment will remain on the PBS,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.
The treatment also reduces the patient’s need for follow up appoints – a big win considering more than $330 million is spent on out of pocket cost each year.
“There was a lot more patients that needed it than expected,” Dr Weightman said.
“Now that we’ve got the increased funding we can fund those patients.”
