To think the NHS should tell us the cost of medication

[glenthebattleostrich]

Just been talking to / whining at DH about how I need to order a new inhalor before Christmas but my app won't let me before 25 Dec. Then got onto the cost of prescriptions and wasted medication (I know, bet you wish you were here!)

Out of interest I googled the cost of my inhalor and the one my doctor tried to switch me too (can't use dry powder as it makes my asthma worse for some reason).

My symbicort costs about £38 and my salbutamol £12 to buy. Suddenly i feel better about prescription charges (still annoying that some parts of the UK don't pay or certain conditions get all meds free others dont, bit that's a different thread).

Anyways, after all that waffle, AIBU to think we should be told how much it would cost us to buy medication? I'd be more appreciative of the savings / consider how much I need it and would be less likely to waste medication.

I have just added up and ds has around £200 worth of meds a month. That's not including an extra steroids or antibitoics he may need.

Re the antibitoics most of the ones given out for "bog standard" infections are relatively cheap aren't they? So I can't publishing the price putting off those who expect them at the drop of a hat!

Legally paracetamol can only be sold in packs of 32 but your pharmacy can sell up to three packs at their discretion.

I presume a GP's letter would help there as don't want to have an argument with the pharmacist a couple of times a month! DM has her prescriptions delivered to her by the pharmacy so she never runs out of any of her medication. It's asking for problems if they stop prescribing some of them.

The gluten free stuff was in the local paper, the rest of the drugs the gps basically wrote notes with everyone's prescription when they ordered it saying that due to local policy they had to be purchased, half the time the pharmacy had to inform them
It's been happening here since last year, it's called prescribing for clinical need, I would imagine your CCG would have a similar policy.

I wouldn't underestimate the under active thyroid. Seems a really 'minor' thing, but mine is very unstable and I had a huge lecture (with diagrams) of exactly how pivotal the thyroid was to everything in my body, particularly the heart and an increased propensity to furring of the arteries. Mine was found by accident as I'd have never 'bothered' my GP with the various little symptoms. I've also had problems after surgery twice which were attributed to my thyroid not behaving.

Mine are £1300 per month and generic is around £100 however I can't switch as my body would reject it. I pay my tax and thank god for NHS

I think one of he big pharma lot were fined 80 odd million last week for overcharging the NHS?

"But people who order paracetamol, antihistamines, calpol, emollient etc when it's cheap to get from a pharmacy really p**s me off to be honest."

They're not cheap when you have to take them all the time. I'm almost permanently o antihistamines.

No I think campaigns to reduce waste should use other methods. Maybe mention overall amounts, like "the amount wasted in Essex each year is around £££" or "5000 inhalers were thrown away last month unused" or countrywide statistics but not individuals.

• people might feel guilty, if they are prescribed something then there is a reason for them to be taking it.
• people do think the "expensive" inhaler is better than the cheap one, when the cost is often nothing to do with the effectiveness and just about drug companies making money or the cost of production
• people who waste often dont care about the cost of wasting

Except if the medication is exceptionally expensive.

The other side of the argument is some medications actually cost less than the price of a prescription. So works both ways.

And for those saying that knowing the cost of medication might put you off obtaining the medication you're entitled to - don't forget the amount you've paid the NHS is taxes over the years.

In Scotland we get free prescriptions, and a lot of people really take the piss and get prescriptions for paracetamol, aspirin etc and it boils my blood. I know a few people who use the minor ailments service to get calpol, teething gel, brufon, bum cream etc. I'm not exactly flush and never have anything spare, but I would only use it if I absolutely couldn't pay, but the people who use it absolutely can afford it. I would be happy to pay for prescriptions if it meant a more efficient Nhs.

Pfizer were fined last week.

It looks as if where CCGs are trying to limit prescriptions of paracetamol (e.g. Bury CCG here - PDF link) there is an exemption for people who take it for long term conditions.

And also your medical records are being used for research without your knowledge and consent. So you are paying the NHS in other ways as well

Ds is on a daily antihistamine as part of a vast range of drugs to control his asthma. That is prescribed alongside all his other drugs.

It's different when it's something that is needed long term and regularly than something you have in the cupboard as a just incase for an otherwise healthy person.

If you really want to know, apart from googling, you can buy a BNF.

last time i checked, DS1's medication was about £60 per pack - he takes 2 packs of different doses, every 4 weeks, so pretty expensive! (cheaper than dealing with the consequences of him not taking it, mind)

I can understand the reasoning's but sorry OP I think YABU.

My DD is severely asthmatic. Her inhaler cost £25, then there's her Ventolin and her Montelukast and her eczema creams and her antihistimines. Oh and the several rounds of antibiotics she's had to have because the minute a cold settles on her chest she gets really poorly. Jt was a condition she was born with (also a preemie baby) and one she will have to live with for the rest of her life. I dont want her to ever not be able to take her meds because she can't afford them she thinks she's a burden on society.

I dont smoke, I hardly ever drink (I have the one glass on new years eve as my tradition). I know I'll probably get flamed for this but when I spent a week in hospital on a chest ward I got very pissed at the patient with pneumonia and pleurisy who kept going outside for a fag every half an hour despite the docs that morning asking them to cut back / stop if they could as it makes the infection worse. The argument they used was they pay their taxes through the extra charge in cigarettes to pay for their treatment.

The problem with charging is yes it encourages people to think twice about whether they want to pay for a sniffle, but It also means the genuine will be less likely to seek help in time, it might not sound like a lot but £8 is £8.

OohMavis I didn't want to cause any bother earlier this year, I only had a cold, it turned into a chest infection rapidly and I ended up in HDU. I wouldn't like to imagine where I'd have ended up if I wasn't taking my inhalers at the same time because I had to choose between feeding the DCs or paying for my meds.

I hate that I am chronically sick and disabled. I feel a failure that I can't go to work, it upsets me that in the past 11 years I have had 7 major surgeries and am on the waiting list for an 8th. I've, also, and around 30 daycase procedures. I know I cost the NHS a fortune.

Due to my conditions I get free prescriptions. I hate that too. I wish my body worked, but it doesn't. I can't help it. If my prescriptions had their cost on them it would make me feel worse and I'd more than likely cut back on my drugs and sufffer more pain.

People don't need to be made to feel guilty for being ill.

My husband has just been diagnosed with a long term health condition he takes 4 different lots of medication each day one of which costs £1400 a month which is more than he earns in a month, it does make me feel a bit bad that the NHS has to fund such expensive medication, I also googled how much my diabeties medication costs and that's pennies rather than pounds.

Yes BunnyFuller Pfizer was.

My GP encouraged me to have Loratidene on prescription but I refised as its so cheap to buy...However Aldi wont sell me more than 2 packets and I got had to be referred to the pharmacist when I wanted two packets of 28.. Both OH and I take them (and GP recommended 2 a day so it mounts up.

I do obviously understand the restrictions but it is frustrating.

I also think the 'only prescribing 28 days' is nightmare...

People don't need to be made to feel guilty for being ill

^This.

Is that all co-codamol for adults? I take 30/500 co-codamol first thing in the morning (and sometimes later in the day) because I usually wake up in a lot of pain and the only way to get rid of the pain is to get moving and stretching - which I need a shot of something strong to get me through. Only 8/500 co-codamol is available OTC.

I take ceterazine 3 or 4 times a day from Feb/March to September/October and I was able to buy 6 boxes of 30 tablets in Wilko and no one questioned me.

I work in a pharmacy.

One of the things that infuriates me is doctors prescribing things that aren't necessary to be on a prescription. Like teething gel 😡

Also, one of our biggest expenses is gluten free stuff. I know that gluten free can be life saving to some people, however the suppliers (who are the ones narking me here) won't allow us to buy say, three loaves of bread, which cost a couple of pounds in tesco for example. Instead we have to buy in bulk (usually 8 loaves in an outer), it's all short dated so the patient either ends up with a freezer full or it goes in the bin and it's costs us about £70 for the box! I don't get how they can charge £2 in the supermarket and have long dates on but the supplier can charge us such a ridiculous prices!

Oldraver

DH and I usually stock up on antihistamine online. It's dirt cheap.
www.chemistdirect.co.uk/allergy-and-hayfever-relief-30-days-clarityn-substitute/prd-6
DH takes it continuously through the summer and the boys and I take it as needed, usually for heat rash, if we get caught by it, as we're all prone to it.