FREE MEDICAL SCHEME

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 7 August 1945, Page 5

FREE MEDICAL SCHEME

B.M.A. OPPOSITION IN AUSTRALIA Sydney, August 5. The British Medical Association in i Australia has asked its members to pledge themselves not to co-opera le with the Federal Government in the free medicine scheme. The association’s main objection to the scheme is the restrictive character of the list of prescriptions to be made j available. Some doctors say they are , reluctant to pledge themselves to a i policy of non-co-operation, though they ; are opposed to the free medicine ! scheme. | An association spokesman says it Is i not compulsory for members to sign | the pledge. The formulary under the Act is compiled by a committee of ' seven, only two of whom are p«actising doctors. The association says it would not object to the official list of | prescriptions and drugs if it did not i restrict the range and combination 1 of i drugs ordinarily used by doctors in | Prescribing for their patients, but, to deprive doctors of the use of such drugs and preparations, is to deny the public the best treatment. Answering the association’s objections. the Minister of Health. Senator Fraser, said the restricted formulary would, as one consideration, reduce the cost of administration. This would be achieved by “offering chemists satislactory methods of pricing, without the necessity of introducing an expensive system of pricing each prescription.”