Tecfidera and Plegridy Available in Ireland

[immisceo]

From MS Ireland

"MS Ireland welcomes the news that two new treatments for relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) have been made available in Ireland. Tecfidera, an oral treatment and Plegridy, an injectable treatment, are both therapies for RRMS which will now be accessible through the HSE under the High Tech Drugs Scheme (HTDS) from the 1st March 2015."

The HTDS = zero cost to those with a diagnosis. Other older DMDs are available free of charge on the alternate Long Term Illness Scheme.

[Artanis12]

I bet you ARE grateful.  I know I would be.  And also without getting too political, I will just say that I am appalled and scared by all the accounts I read on here of people who can't get access to the proper meds, or in many cases, any meds at all, because of a lack of insurance or, more likely nowadays, insurance that they have but that still refuses to pay for those meds.  

Right now I have good insurance and a good job, but I'm not kidding myself that I will be able to swing both going forward, and I'm not close enough to retirement to be OK with a few years early.  It's a constant weight on my mind, the financial burden we might have to bear in the future.  There's really no way to plan for such things either, with the costs of the newer, more effective meds being so insane. Something is definitely askew when the billed cost of a med for a year (that I would pay for in after-tax dollars) is MUCH more than that median gross income in the US.  If I wasn't sick enough with MS, it would MAKE me sick....

[immisceo]

I'm an immigrant to Ireland myself. Without getting too political, I definitely know to be grateful.

[Artanis12]

Congrats on both the med AND having a government and a society that gives a d*** about people.  

Amazing.

I wish I could live there, but we don't make/have enough to move there, alas. :(  If what is currently happening in this country was happening and I was younger, my husband and I likely would have bailed already.

Karen

[immisceo]

New drugs do take an additional year or two after European approval to be introduced via Ireland's health care service. It's the government itself that's negotiating pricing with the pharmaceutical companies as they'll be the ones picking up the tab rather than the individual.

[HVAC]

Wonderful news. I forget all medications are not available all over.

Alex