Respreeza costs row threatens patients’ health

A number of patients with genetic emphysema who are unable to access vital medicine because of a row over administration costs are at major risk of hospitalisation, their doctor has warned.

Yesterday, the first of 17 patients who had, until recently, been receiving the drug Respreeza was laid to rest.

The patients, who have a progressive disease known as Alpha-1, are in their third week of not having access to Respreeza, because neither its manufacturer, CSL Behring, nor the HSE, is willing to pay distribution and administration costs, estimated at about €120,000 per annum.