Cost ‘a barrier’ to the full take-up of respiratory medicines

A new study has shown the amount of money spent on respiratory medicines has fallen over much of the past decade, and the Government could provide the drugs free to all patients for between €20.2m and €33.8m a year.

The study, A Review of Respiratory medicines Expenditure in the Primary Care Reimbursement Services 2005 — 2015

, analysed data from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service schemes and shows total expenditure peaked in 2009 and has been falling since, with the level in 2015 of €135.25m below that of 2006 and similar to the spending back in 2005.