Analysis of consumer comments into PBAC decision-making (2014-9).

Objectives: The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) is an independent expert body that recommends new technologies for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Its decision-making process is evidence-based and considers a technology's clinical effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness compared with other technologies. Since 2014, the PBAC has formally taken into account input from those impacted by the technology via an online consumer comments portal and has also reported on received comments in the Public Summary Documents (PSDs).

Are Australians able to access new medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme in a more or less timely manner? An analysis of pharmaceutical benefits advisory committee recommendations, 1999-2003.

Objective: Timely access to necessary medicines that Australians need is one of the four pillars of the Australian Government's National Medicines Policy. We were interested to determine whether there was a change in the time taken for medicines to be listed once recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC).

Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to show the pattern of recommendations for PBAC meetings from 1999 to 2003.

Development of a predictive population survival model according to the cytogenetic response rate for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase.

This study sets out to investigate whether the proportion of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase who achieve a major cytogenetic response (MCR) can be used as the basis for estimating long-term survival through the use of modeling. Data from seven randomized controlled trials of drugs to treat patients with CML in the chronic phase were used to explore the association between MCR and survival by way of regression analysis. The estimated weighted odds ratio for the survival of those who achieved an MCR when compared with those who did not was 7 (95% CI 5 - 11) at 2 years and 5 (95% CI 3 - 8) at 4 years.