Australia’s Billion-Dollar Blind Spot | The Global Mail.

Hey Wayne Swan, here’s a quick $300 million for you.

By Mike Seccombe

Two drugs, developed by the same company, are repeatedly found to be equally effective at treating the developed world’s most common cause of blindness.

In Australia, one costs $50 per treatment, the other $2,000.

What do we get? The cheaper alternative?

Or a campaign to scare doctors and patients away from the cheap drug and extract billions across the world in the process?

The story of why Australian taxpayers are footing a $300 million-per-year bill for one drug —  the biggest item on the PBS bill — while the vastly cheaper alternative is kept off-label.

Read more: Australia’s Billion-Dollar Blind Spot | The Global Mail.