Sleepless Kiwis popping more pills

“Well over half a million prescriptions for sleeping pills were dispensed in 2005,representing an almost 30% increase in volume since 1999,” says National Party Associate Health spokeswoman (Pharmacare) Dr Jackie Blue.

Dr Blue is commenting on information received under the Official Information Act.

“Apart from a small decrease in prescription volumes in 2000, there has been a steady increase ever since, with the largest jump in 2003/4.

“Despite the significant increase in prescription numbers, the cost of these drugs has gone down to just over $1 million, which is more than likely a result of cheaper generics being available.

“But because these drugs have fallen below Pharmac's financial radar, no one seems to be at all concerned that Kiwis are more stressed and consuming more and more sleeping tablets.

“The only Ministry of Health document available was on the New Zealand Guidelines Group website and is 10 years out of date. I couldn't find any information on the Ministry of Health's own website.

“A responsible Government would want to know why we’re prescribing sleeping pills at increasing rates. I look forward to see if officials have any anecdotal explanation.

“But it’s not an issue that should be treated in a cavalier fashion. We need to be vigilant that we aren’t setting the scene for dependency issues downstream,” says Dr Blue.

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