Patient urges HSE to agree deal for life-prolonging drug

A man whose survival depends on a double lung transplant has called on the HSE to renegotiate the price of a life-prolonging drug that has been branded too expensive to use.

Last month, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) recommended that Pirfenidone, the first licensed treatment for a rare and fatal lung disease, was “not cost-effective for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis [IPF]”.

Pat Casey, 55, from Cross- haven, Co Cork, who has IPF, said it was a “wonder drug” that people living in Ireland should be entitled to benefit from: “I know a couple of people with IPF who were given Pirfenidone as part of a drug trial here and the results were fantastic. It buys you time if you are waiting for a transplant.”