The future of NPS MedicineWise, the organisation that has guided doctors on the safe use of medicines for the past 25 years, is under threat after the Federal Government axed its funding last week.

An independent charity, more than 75% of its revenue — currently worth around $25 million a year — has come from the taxpayer.

But buried in last week’s federal budget papers was a sentence where the government said it was redesigning its program covering the quality use of diagnostics, therapeutics and pathology.

There was no direct reference to NPS MedicinesWise, but Australian Doctor has discovered all of its public funding will be redirected to the Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Healthcare.