People without health insurance increasingly unable to get cutting-edge cancer meds they need

Oncologist Michael McCarthy: '[I]f the EMA approves something today, then tomorrow the private patient will be able to access it — but for the public patient, it might take two years. Picture: Ray Ryan

People in Ireland without health insurance — about half of the population — are increasingly unable to access the latest cutting-edge cancer treatments that are available to private patients.

A gap has opened up in how quickly drugs are made available to private patients compared to public patients following a change in the way private health insurers cover cancer drugs that are newly approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).