Pharmacists in the country have said that they are planning to campaign against the government’s decision to remove Panadol Osteo from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

The Pharmacy Guild urged the government to rectify what it described as a ‘mistake’ to remove medicines from the scheme. They said that the move will make costs for medicine rise three times for pensioners and also said that it is prepared to campaign against the move.

ThePharmacy Guild pointed out that the decision to remove Panadol Osteo from the Befits Scheme was an error that will force more than two million people suffering from osteoarthritis to pay a significantly higher amount for their essential pain medication. Health Minister Sussan Ley has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate the matter after the maker of the medication said that it is increasing the price by more than 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, She said that 23 services will be cut from the Medicare Benefits Schedule and these include diagnostic imaging services and nine related to ear, nose and throat surgery. These services cost around $6.8 million to the government, which is a rather small part of the $21 billion annual Medicare budget. The government believes that it can manage to cut these services from the total of 5700 items currently on the benefits schedule.