Hong Kong patient advocacy group concerned over possible 75% cut to maximum course of prescription drugs at public hospitals

Rights group says slashing maximum course of medications from 16 to four weeks could force very ill patients to make extra trips to hospital, and pay more for drugs

Hospital Authority chairman has floated move amid annual expenses of HK$9.6 billion on medicines, accounting for 10 per cent of overall spending

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Patients wait for prescriptions at a hospital in Mong Kok. Paracetamol is already limited to a four-week course, after authorities reduced the maximum length amid pandemic-related panic buying. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 4:30pm, 12 Mar 2024

An advocacy group has voiced concern about a possible move to slash the maximum amount of prescription drugs dispensed to Hong Kong patients by 75 per cent to rein in public hospital spending, saying it will increase the burden on those with chronic illnesses and waiting times at pharmacies.

Alex Lam Chi-yau, chairman of advocacy group Hong Kong Patients’ Voices, said on Tuesday that some very ill patients might be forced to take “extremely inconvenient” additional trips to hospital if the maximum course of medication distributed to them each time was cut from 16 to four weeks, an idea floated earlier by the head of the Hospital Authority.

“As patients might need to visit the pharmacy a few times more, the pharmacy might become very crowded and the waiting time could be much longer,” Lam told a radio programme.

“Patients may have to pay three times more to obtain the medicine for 16 weeks if it is reduced to four weeks each time.”

Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said on Sunday that the public body would consider the move amid annual expenses of HK$9.6 billion (US$1.2 billion) on medicines, which accounted for 10 per cent of overall spending.

Prescriptions are free of charge at accident and emergency departments at public hospitals and general outpatient clinics, while residents must pay HK$15 per prescription at specialist outpatient clinics.