Current Guidelines For Prescribing Testosterone On The PBS

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee announced new prescribing criteria for testosterone effective from the 1st of April 2015. The main changes that were made are as follows;

• Newly identified androgen deficient men need to be referred to an endocrinologist, urologist, paediatrician or registered member of the Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine to obtain access to the PBS subsidised treatment.
• Existing patients on PBS subsidised testosterone must be referred to an endocrinologist, urologist, paediatrician or registered member of the Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine for the continuation of subsidised treatment.
• Blood testosterone qualifying levels has been lowered from 8nmol/L to 6nmol/L.

Andrology Australia in conjunction with the Endocrine Society have released an advisory note for prescribers on how to implement the new PBS changes for testosterone prescribing with specific emphasis on the fact that there is no ‘grandfather’ clause. This means that if a man previously had two serum testosterone levels below 8nmol/L but above 6 nmol/L they no longer qualify for PBS subsidised testosterone and require a review. The general practitioner can continue treatment using a private, non-PBS prescription if necessary. The full advisory note can be found at;

www.andrologyaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/PBS-testosterone-implementation-2015.pdf