Linda Dear: Menodoctor Clinical Director on Pharmac's new measures to address HRT patch shortage

Increased restrictions for HRT menopause treatment, as Pharmac finds ways shore up supply of oestradiol patches.

It's changing its main funded brand to Estradiol TDP Mylan from supplier Viatris from next July.

In order to ensure supply, it'll be the only funded brand available by December 2025.

Menodoctor Clinical Director, Linda Dear, says those who can't use the Mylan brand will have other options.

"Most women who get on with other, non-Mylan brands will get on with gel fine - but it means they'll have to start probably thinking about that transition."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good news for me and appausal women who've been struggling
everybody else around them who've been struggling with the shortage
of HRT petches. Far Mech has today announced it's going
to change the funded brand for the patches because of
the shortage issues that we've had. Doctor Linda dere is
the clinical director of Mino doctor and with us now Linda, Hello, Hello, Hey.
This sounds like good news, is it.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
It's kind of a mixture of good and maybe bad
because they what they're going to do is basically fund
only one brand of patch, which is called my Lamb.
And unfortunately some women don't get on with my Land.
So for the women who don't get on with my
Land that this is going to make them feel a
little bit uneasy and a bit anxious. But on the

(00:43):
positive side, there are other options for those those women,
but it means they might have to then do a
bit of work before their particular brand patch is no
longer funded as of first December next year.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Why is it that we were funding only one brand?
I mean that seems like that wasn't a really smart idea,
was it.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh? No, we weren't. So before we were funding several brands.
So this is now restricting funding to one brand only
because that particular brand has come back and said we
can guarantee supply because one of the big problems with
Eastern patches has been trying to get hold of any
So what they are doing is choosing a brand that

(01:24):
won't run out on us. But the downside is women
don't have as much options for patches now. The good
news there though, is there are other options apart from Patches,
such as funded gel, which most women who get on
with other non miland brands will get on with Gel fine,
but it means they have to start probably thinking about

(01:46):
that transition. Is they're in that group of women that
my land doesn't agree with them.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Right, Linda, thank you appreciate your time, doctor Linda Dea,
clinical director of me No Doctor. For more from Hither
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