Special Authority data for injectable antipsychotic medicines

14 July 2021

Dear [name and contact details withheld] 

Request for information 

Thank you for your request dated 17 June 2021 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to Special Authority data for injectable antipsychotic medicines. You requested:

The numbers of Special Authority Initiations and Renewals for 2020 by quarter for the following products:

• SA1429 Invega Sustenna (paliperidone palmitate depot injection)
• SA1427 Risperdal Consta (risperidone microspheres)
• SA1428 Zyprexa Relprevv (olanzapine pamoate monohydrate depot injection)

If possible, could I have this data split by DHB? 

Please find the data requested provided within the table below. 

Table: Special Authority application approval data for antipsychotic medicines, calendar year 2020 by quarter

Q1 = January to March 2020 inclusive

Q2 = April to June 2020 inclusive

Q3 = July to September 2020 inclusive

Q4 = October to December 2020 inclusive

Please note that PHARMAC approaches its assessment of requests for information under the OIA on the basis that, once released, the information becomes publicly available - in other words once we release the information to you it becomes available to any other party in that exact form (whether by you distributing it to others or by virtue of us receiving the same request from a different third party).

We have not provided the Special Authority application approval data at a DHB level as we consider this is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons (section 9(2)(a)).

As required under the OIA, we also considered whether, in the circumstances, the withholding of this information was outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make this information available.  In this case we did not consider that the public interest outweighed the reasons for withholding the information.

Please note you have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(3) of the OIA to an Ombudsman, to seek an investigation and review of our decision.

We trust that this information answers your queries. We are making our information more freely available, so we now publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this. 

Yours sincerely

Rachel Read
Manager, Policy and Government Services