Medsafe has expanded
access to the psychedelic drug psilocybin, and the
sleep hormone melatonin.
The change means melatonin
will be available for purchase at pharmacies with no
prescription, and psilocybin can be prescribed by a
highly experienced psychiatrist for patients with
treatment-resistant depression.
The
SMC asked experts to comment.
Professor Suresh Muthukumaraswamy,
School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland,
comments:
“The approval of the first
psychiatrist prescriber for psilocybin better aligns us with
Australia who have had a system in place for this kind of
prescribing for nearly two years.
“The major issue
though is that psilocybin will be prescribed alongside
intensive psychotherapy which is expensive. Hence access to
this therapy will be limited until complementary funding
mechanisms are put in
place.”
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
© Scoop Media
Our aim is to promote accurate, evidence-based reporting on science and technology by helping the media work more closely with the scientific community.
The Science Media Centre is New Zealand’s only trusted, independent source of information for the media on all issues related to science. Thousands of news stories providing context from and quoting New Zealand researchers have been published as a direct result of our work.