Individual patient use of high cost medicines

If a high cost medicine: 

  • is not on the Statewide Formulary, or
  • the indication for which it is to be used is not approved, and
  • the use of the medicine is urgent

apply directly to your local hospital Drug and Therapeutics Committee (DTC), or equivalent committee, for individual patient use (IPU) of the medicine.

Application process

Applications (PDF 1118KB) to use a high cost medicine in an individual patient must be forwarded directly to your local hospital DTC, or equivalent committee, for individual patient use of the medicine.

Required approvals

Where there are less than three applications across the state for the same drug, for the same condition, your local DTC can authorise these requests.

When IPU thresholds has been reached

Once three IPU requests for a high cost medicine have been approved for a particular condition within SA public hospitals, further IPU requests must be referred to the Department for Health and Ageing for approval, through your DTC.

For medicines which have reached the "3-IPU threshold", a formulary application should be completed and forwarded, via the hospital DTC, to the South Australian Medicines Evaluation Panel (SAMEP) for evaluation. More information on this is available on the High cost medicines formulary page.

Further information

For further information on individual patient use of high cost medicines, contact the Executive Officer for South Australian Medicines Evaluation Panel.