Otago study aims to prompt reforms to medical prescriptions

Many people who require multiple prescriptions ‘cannot afford the fees’

Poverty is preventing thousands of people in New Zealand from obtaining pharmacy drugs prescribed by doctors and health services, meaning the system must be reformed, a University of Otago academic has said.

Pauline Norris, a medical researcher with the centre for Pacific health, says recent research has found that single parents, low-income families, Māori and Pacific Islanders are among the worst affected.