The rise and fall of the Therapeutic Products Act, reviewed

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-12-12 00:01

New Zealand

Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

After a decade long effort, the Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) was passed in 2023. The next year, the newly elected Government in early 2024 repealed the entire bill and replaced it with more limited legislation. A researcher analysed this policy cycle, saying it shows the fragility of evidence-based health reform. He suggests that the TPA's repeal is a key moment in NZ health policy history - "an ideologically-driven policy reversal with significant consequences" - and it illustrates the challenges of achieving long-term evidence-based policy change.

Media release

From: New Zealand Medical Journal

This paper looks at why New Zealand first created, and then quickly repealed, a new law (the Therapeutic Products Act 2023) that would have updated how medicines, medical devices and natural health products are regulated. The Act would have checked device safety before products reached the market (“pre-market approval”) and covered health software (“software as a medical device”, meaning apps or programs used for diagnosis or care), but those features did not carry over after repeal. It also formally acknowledged Rongoā Māori (traditional Māori healing), whereas the repeal-era papers did not address Rongoā or Te Tiriti considerations. The analysis compares official documents and submissions to show how the policy narrative switched from safety and modernisation to cutting “red tape” and what protections were lost as a result.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: Victoria University of Wellington, Flinders University, The University of Adelaide, The University of Melbourne

Funder: N/A\. The author has previously been an advisor to Pharmac, is a member of multiple medical professional organisations such as the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA). The author submitted to parliament on the Medicines Amendment Bill, in relation to section 19 and use of unapproved medicines by paramedics.

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