Price of 1400 prescription medicines slashed
On Sunday, more than 1400 medicines were reduced in price, including treatments for cholesterol and breast cancer.
The price cuts are the result of the government's new price disclosure process that monitors the discounts chemists receive on medicine prices.
Millions of Australians who suffer from a range of health conditions will benefit from these price reductions.
The new process will see anti-cholesterol pill Atorvastatin fall in price by 52 cents and Tamoxifen for breast cancer by $3.50.
Cold sore treatment Zovirax will reduce in price by $3.17 and Capecitabine for certain types of cancer will be slashed by $6.26.
Leflunomide for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis will be reduced by $4.24.
Telmisartan for high blood pressure will fall in price by $1.75 and Quetiapine for mental health conditions will fall in price by $5.94.
Diflucan to treat fungal infections will drop by a significant 17 per cent.
This new scheme is expected to save taxpayers $430 million over the next four years. There are also estimated savings of $75 million to patient out-of-pocket expenses over the next four years.
Paul Cross of Pharma Dispatch said the price reduction will be welcomed by many Aussie households.
"Millions of Australians suffer from really common conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, and what this means is their medicines are going to be cheaper.
Aussies with chronic illnesses who take multiple medications daily will make the biggest savings.
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