Good news for people who get migraines

From June 2021, Emgality (galcanezumab) will be available on the PBS for 10,000 people who live with migraines.

This means they will no longer have to pay $6800 a year for their medication, but just $41.30 a script.

According to Migraine Australia, Emgality is one of the new calcitonin gene-related peptide medications that are “dramatically changing” the lives of people with migraines.

Raphaella Crosby, founder of Migraine Australia, said this was a “massive win” for people who suffer from migraines.

“We still have some fighting to do, as there are a number of other new medications from this breakthrough in migraine treatment, and we want all of the new drugs listed on the PBS,” she said.

“The 10,000 number listed on budget papers we think might be a typo, or it’s health department officials severely underestimating the migraine community again.

“It’s more likely to be 100,000.”

It’s estimated around 5 million people in Australia live with migraines, according to research by Deloitte Access Economics.

Ms Crosby said about 400,000 people would qualify for the new drug.

The number of people eligible is expected to be limited due to strict criteria, inlcuding that a person must have chronic migraines (15 headache days, eight of which are migraine days) for at least three months.

They must also have failed three older medications and must be managed for medication overuse.

They must also be under the care of a neurologist who must initiate treatment.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee first recommended Emgality for the PBS in July 2019.

Ms Crosby said people who lived with migraines wanted decision-makers to begin approaching the condition as a “sensory disability”.

“We also have issues with access to DSP and NDIS because of that deeply held ‘headache’ stigma and the belief that migraine is a temporary or episodic thing, rather than a genetic and incurable spectrum disorder,” she said.