Patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis face potentially fatal delays in receiving treatment because there is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to register second-line therapies in Australia, experts say.

Doctors can import and prescribe unregistered drugs but must file an application to the TGA’s Special Access Scheme for each patient.

The medicine watchdog says the scheme is only meant for “exceptional clinical circumstances”.

But it’s become common practice for hospitals to spend tens of thousands of dollars on unregistered drugs because resistance to first-line therapies is increasing, according to researchers writing in Australian Health Review.