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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not understand why some life saving medications are free and others aren't

247 replies

BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 02/04/2018 16:11

Why on earth are inhalers and asthma medications not yet free on prescription but type 2 diabetics (lifestyle induced) get all of their medications for free?

This has been slowly getting to me as the years have gone on and I have a teen with asthma who, no matter how well controlled it is in the year, always ends up on steroids multiple times in the winter. I know they don't have to pay now but this is likely to be an issue as an adult for them and they will then have to pay, why? Why can type 2 diabetics not just get their diabetes medications free but ALL their medications but asthmatics can't even get essential life saving medications free?

AIBU to feel the rage on this?

OP posts:
summercat · 05/04/2018 08:47

@mydcaremarvel

Because type two diabetes costs the nhs more if uncontrolled

And if ASTHMA is 'uncontrolled' the patient DIES!

Jesus wept. Hmm

Also agree with the OP that diabetes is more likely to be because of someone's lifestyle choices. Obviously not ALL diabetes is due to 'lifestyle choices,' but diabetes is more likely to be caused by peoples lifestyles, than asthma is!!!

@BalloonSlayer

You can grow out of asthma....

Just when I thought I had seen everything on here, someone comes out with a priceless lump of cowshit like that. Hmm

@Moonlightkissed

Because without treatment, thyroid can be at best life altering (sometimes it still is with treatment), and at worst actually fatal.

And asthma going untreated ISN'T potentially fatal?! Confused

Again, Jesus fucking wept!!! If you have an asthma attack YOU CANNOT BREATHE FFS! And you know what happens if you can't BREATHE? I'll give ya 3 guesses. Yep.....

YOU.

DIE.

To quote a famous mumsnet line. 'some people on here must be on glue!'

It all needs reviewing, and updating. The fact that you can get a 'certificate' for £104 or whatever, to cover all prescriptions all year is neither here or there. Either no-one pays or everyone does.

@snash12

Why don't we all just take a bit of fucking responsibility for ourselves?? Why do some people the government should pay for everything?

Congratulations!!! You win the award for the goadiest, wankiest, and most ludicrous post on the thread. Here's your prize...... 🥕

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 05/04/2018 09:00

So summercat, only T1 or diabetes related to other illnesses should be exempt? And diabetes can kill too. My great aunt committed suicide by refusing to take her insulin.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 05/04/2018 09:05

Same with CF summercat. That's not covered either. If DS1 didn't have his enzymes he'd starve to death, if he didn't have his antibiotics his lungs would eventually pack up. They were already scarred to fuck when he was diagnosed at 5.

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 09:18

It is pretty pointless to argue about who is and isn't deserving of free prescriptions as there is no way medical exemption could or should ever be based on that. That would be outrageous.

I don't think the current system is hard to understand at all. It was brought in long ago and was based on common sense at the time.

Obviously, it makes no sense now but adding more medical exemptions would be hugely expensive- most people "need" their medication after all. It would make perhaps make sense to cancel the whole list so that everyone was in the same boat but I am sure that there would be uproar about that and lots of newspaper article about people with type 1 diabetes dying because they couldn't afford insulin etc etc. Therefore, whenever they review the system the status quo is maintained as there is no way around it apart from making all prescriptions free and there would be a cost to that.

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 09:22

To add to the unfairness, those who are prescribed medicines by hospitals also don't pay a prescription charge.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 05/04/2018 09:31

How about - if you're illness can kill you, you get a medex card?

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 09:38

How about - if you're illness can kill you, you get a medex card?

What is the definition of "can kill you". Many illnesses reduce life expectancy but don't cause immediate death. How long would the gap between no medication and death be? Also, some illness don't kill but can cause the person to become permanently very disabled and perhaps in a worse situation than death. There is no simple easy answer, hence why nothing changes much.

summercat · 05/04/2018 09:44

@PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks

So summercat, only T1 or diabetes related to other illnesses should be exempt? And diabetes can kill too. My great aunt committed suicide by refusing to take her insulin.

I never said that! Confused

Same with CF summercat. That's not covered either. If DS1 didn't have his enzymes he'd starve to death, if he didn't have his antibiotics his lungs would eventually pack up. They were already scarred to fuck when he was diagnosed at 5.

Seriously, what are you on about? I never said all the above illnesses should not be exempt!!! Only that asthma treatment should be free, if treatment for other chronic illnesses are free.

(Sorry about your aunt though, and your son. Hope some kind of treatment is found for your son soon. I know CF is a horrible thing.Sad )

Oblomov18 · 05/04/2018 09:48

NHS won't be able to fund it for much longer.
I get all my insulin and pump equipment for free and I appreciate that. It wasn't my fault I developed T1 diabetes at the age of 1.
But I still appreciate that this funding simply can't continue.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 05/04/2018 09:52

I was saying that CF is like asthma, it's not covered. DS1 only gets his medication free because he also has diabetes. I was merely pointing out that other illnesses aren't covered which should be. Smile

I was wondering why you were differentiating between types of diabetes.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 05/04/2018 09:57

It seems that the decision to exempt some illnesses and not others is completely arbitrary.

Thanks summercat. Smile He's not even on the waiting list for a lung transplant, there are people much worse than him. Please can everyone on here register as an organ donor if you haven't already?

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 09:58

I don't think any illness should be "covered". Either all prescription charges should be cancelled or the amount should be reduced and then means tested. In particular, I don't see why people over 60 are automatically exempt. Nowadays some of those people won't even be retired and those that are often reasonably well off.

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 09:59

It seems that the decision to exempt some illnesses and not others is completely arbitrary.

It't not arbitary. It's based on what could and couldn't be treated 50 years ago (not much compared with today)

summercat · 05/04/2018 09:59

@PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks

I was saying that CF is like asthma, it's not covered. DS1 only gets his medication free because he also has diabetes. I was merely pointing out that other illnesses aren't covered which should be. Smile

I was wondering why you were differentiating between types of diabetes.

No I wasn't ... sorry if it came across that way. Smile

All chronic illness deserve recognition, and free treatment (and not just the chosen few...)

Including CF. Smile

TBH I thought you were calling me a cheeky fucker when you put that. Grin

As I said, I hope a treatment is found for your son. CF is quite horrible! Sad

He's not even on the waiting list for a lung transplant, there are people much worse than him. Please can everyone on here register as an organ donor if you haven't already?

Already have. Smile

Oblomov18 · 05/04/2018 10:13

" I don't think any illness should be "covered". "

Nope. I don't agree with pp. At All!!

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 10:18

Nope. I don't agree with pp. At All!!

Why not? As demonstrated by this thread there is no way to fairly make some illnesses exempt but not others. Even if they did manage to make it "fair" today it won't be fair tomorrow (as new life saving treatments come in). The fairest way is to cancel all charges or reduce fee and then means test.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 05/04/2018 10:30

Yes, means testing would be sensible. DS1's too ill to work, so all his medication should be free, but if Alan Sugar suddenly contracted a life threatening illness, he should pay.

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 10:37

Yes, Alan Sugar doesn't have to pay any prescription charge at the moment if he receives NHS treatment. I bet his treatment is private though..

madamginger · 05/04/2018 11:04

I think that everyone should pay a nominal amount for their medication, and no-one should get free prescriptions. If everyone paid 50p per item it would make people think about what they are ordering every month.
I work in Pharmacy and you would not believe the waste. A couple of months ago I threw away £24,000 worth of HIV drugs returned from a patient who had their medicine changed by the consultant, and they had stockpiled their previous medicines. Shock
Our ccg is very proactive in reducing waste, 28 days only prescriptions for everyone (except the pill, you can have 6 months supply only) and they are strict about Pharmacy ordering, we can only order what patients ask for, we don’t order everything on a repeat prescription. And absolutely no OTC medicine on prescription, that means no calpol, cough medicine, head lice treatment etc etc.

GrumpyPantz · 05/04/2018 11:13

The decision to exempt some illnesses but not others is extremely unfair and discriminatory. Diabetes is not the only illness that would cause death (or cost the NHS more) if left untreated. My aunt has coeliac disease so needs gluten free bread etc, but the NHS stopped prescribing it in our area. It's really expensive and she couldn't afford it so she just ate ordinary bread until she got stomach cancer, which the NHS now has to treat. A real cost saving there Hmm

Dungeondragon15 · 05/04/2018 11:37

It's really expensive and she couldn't afford it so she just ate ordinary bread until she got stomach cancer, which the NHS now has to treat. A real cost saving there

Gluten free is not really expensive for people to buy nowadays though. That is why many CCGs will no longer allow it to be prescribed. It costs the NHS a lot to prescribe but not much extra for the person to buy.
Could your aunt really not spare an extra couple of pounds a week to buy gluten free bread rather than non gluten free?

Original poster
BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 05/04/2018 11:39

You also can live quite easily without any bread products in your diet. It's not An essential foodgroup

OP posts:
ExFury · 05/04/2018 11:51

It seems that the decision to exempt some illnesses and not others is completely arbitrary

It's not. The decision is very simple - long-term conditions which had a life saving treatment readily available when the list was created are exempt. Conditions that didn't, or weren't understood/diagnosed then don't.

It's not about asthma not being seen as serious, or cystic fibrosis being seen as something lesser than diabetes. There was just no long term treatments available to adults at the time the list was created.

And no government is going to change the list because it would cost too much to exempt everyone that the last review said should be exempt, but, none of them want to be the government that took away people's insulin (for example) because the publicity would be awful. Even when the list was changed to include cancer sufferers in 2009 the rest of it wasn't touched because it's too much of s politically cake.

YourWanMajella · 05/04/2018 12:42

It's really expensive and she couldn't afford it so she just ate ordinary bread until she got stomach cancer, which the NHS now has to treat. A real cost saving there

She could have just not eaten the bread? Not something that the NHS can be blamed for, someone choosing to eat food they shouldn't because nobody else would pay for the subs that she didn't actually need in the first place?

cansu · 05/04/2018 12:52

Many people have conditions that are nothing to do with their lifestyle and pay for them for their whole lives. Get a prepayment card which wil save you a lot.