The existing medical benefits advisory committee regularly reviews new items proposed for the Medicare schedule, and on occasion existing items.
Labor has criticised the Coalition for taking so long to list the drugs, which the pharmaceutical benefits advisory committee recommended for the PBS in March this year.
The Australian government's pharmaceutical benefits advisory committee last year advised ministers that boys as well as girls aged 12 and 13 should receive the vaccine, though the federal health minister has yet to concur.
Citing advice from the pharmaceutical benefits advisory committee, Ley said patients and taxpayers were unnecessarily paying higher prices to fill prescriptions for medicines that could often be bought cheaper off the shelf.
Their analysis looked at how consumption patterns may shift in response to fish advisories and found a net benefit if advisories are properly followed but substantial health risks if advisories lead to unnecessary decreases in fish consumption.
The shortage of staff has affected the agency's performance, causing "delays in payment of benefits or payment of incorrect benefits," the advisory board said.
She praised the Coalition's policy to list all medicines costing a total of $20m or more recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme advisory board, saying listing cancer drugs saved patients tens of thousands of dollars.
Although the FDA has twice rejected approval of the drug, arguing the potential side effects, including nausea, fainting, dizziness, low-blood pressure, and sleepiness, outweigh the benefits, an advisory committee to the FDA voted earlier this month to recommend that the FDA approve the drug, called flibanserin, under certain conditions.
Because of the health benefits, fish advisories should not reduce fish consumption, even among at-risk individuals, but should lead consumers to switch away from highly contaminated fish toward those less contaminated.
In addition to conferring health benefits, some advisories also indicated that fish consumption provides non-health benefits such as recreation (Table 2).
Whatever models or metrics are used to estimate public health risk from summertime heat, the benefits of advisories and heat emergency response will, of course, depend on the ability of the public, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations to take actions that actually reduce heat exposure and health risks.
