AIBU to be enraged about a £100 HRT fine?

[OnlyOneAdda]

Been on HRT for about 18 months ago, so have purchased HRT pre payment certificate. Each time I collect my prescriptions, I am asked to show my certificate as proof of payment.

I have just received a letter from NHS saying according to their records I have falsely claimed for a prescription and I will be fined £100. Have called them and provided my certificate number...turns out that one of the new medications my GP added six months ago isn't covered and I should have paid. The letter explicitly states that being mislead by the pharmacy is not a valid exclude.

WTAF? The pharmacy accepted it as payment. If this item wasn't eligible then they shouldn't have. If I go into a shop that doesn't accept AmEx they tell my at point of payment - they don't send me a £100 fine six months later and tell me I should have known better and used a different card.

If I've pre-paid my HRT then it should cover all fucking HRT. And if an item isn't payable by the means provided at the till then this should be flagged at point of sale!!!

Absolutely fuming 🤬 (and of course like most AIBU posts I actually just want you to agree with me 🤣 so if you think IABU then please scroll on and leave me to my menopausal rage...)

And don't get me started on the fact that men don't have to pay full stop for HRT, sanitary products etc. 🙄

And yes, was going to say I think that's a great idea. Even though you'll probably have to pay the fine, YADNBU to flag this as a wider issue and complain because this is unreasonably complicated and unfair.

Pharmacy should have said ...this particular medication it's covered ..do you know that ?
They didn't
Then they accepted the pre payment ...I'd expect them to flag it then.

Also Dr could say ..If you have a pre pay for HRT this isn't covered.
It does seem unfair
But I guess rules are rules
You can try and complain.
I would !!

No I couldn’t care less, but I do think the OP is very entitled and that gets on my nerves

Well, the fact that the research on this is so poor points to the fact that misogyny is alive and well in the pharmaceutical industry. There hasn't been enough research, there is still no ongoing research so women suffer. Whereas men with the same problem don't.

@mathanxiety
Is it just me or does it sound as if you're rubbing your hands together in glee about this?

@ForCraftyWriter
No I couldn’t care less, but I do think the OP is very entitled and that gets on my nerves

For somebody that couldn’t care less you sure spend a lot of time on this thread. Taylor Swift’s new song Actually Romantic could be written about you…

I’m entitled because I don’t agree with you 😂 Oh the irony…

If I’m getting on your nerves then off you pop to another thread

Well, the fact that the research on this is so poor points to the fact that misogyny is alive and well in the pharmaceutical industry. There hasn't been enough research, there is still no ongoing research so women suffer. Whereas men with the same problem don't.

I agree @Bulbsbulbsbulbs - there has been an ongoing shortage of Estradot patches for years now...if it was viagra I am sure they would have sorted it out

UPDATE from Boots:

Head office have confirmed if a patient signs the declaration then they are liable for any penalties; if a Boots representative have signed the declaration then Boots will be liable for any penalties / will be able to cancel.

They're also going to see if they can get the prescription back from NHSBSA any quicker than the advertised 10 working days via post.

I don't understand what they are sending by post if it was an electronic prescription. That'll be interesting in itself.

I think I've missed bits of the thread! So I guess my pharmacist also will have signed something as I certainly didn't? So I might be able to not pay the fine? I hope so.

Agreed - electronic prescription, corresponding by email...but apparently they can only send via snail mail and it won't arrive until after the deadline for issuing the penalty 🙄

Sorry but given it's so hard to get testosterone on the NHS, I do think it would cross my mind to check. If it's any consolation OP, I pay £60 for a tube of testosterone privately so you're not down in a way

Yes that's right @Bulbsbulbsbulbs - all patients should sign a declaration and they are signing to confirm this particular prescription is exempt, and it warns about penalties if the claim is wrong, and consents to use of data.

I think anybody actually being presented with this form WOULD likely think twice and double check - I do now understand why some posters said it was "crystal clear".

Per NHSBSA this must be signed by the patient and the pharmacy can only do so with your consent. And yet it seems like this is routinely being performed on the patient's behalf without their knowledge.

I haven't seen one of these forms for decades...I assumed they no longer existed. And when I did last complete one I would have been paying so I wouldn't have registered the declaration warning as it wouldn't have been relevant.

I think you'll be fine 🤞🏻 though it might be a bit of a faff. I will keep you posted!

Thanks for that! My pharmacist was a bit shifty about it and said he would 'sort it out'. He's an independent one so hopefully it will be OK. He has a bit of form for taking matters into his own hands, he's a bit of a character!

It's weird how this is handled differently. At my pharmacy I always sign that form, either for myself or on occasion when ive been picking up medication for someone else (signing on behalf of the patient).

(And, being honest, I still probably wouldn't have realised that testosterone gel wasn't included, so thank you for posting before I make the mistake of switching from the general PPC to the HRT only one!)

I'm glad it sounds like you should be ok because of the way your pharmacy have done it.

I haven't signed one of those forms in years, whether paying or prepaying. Prescriptions are ordered online, I can see there's a paper form behind the counter at the pharmacy, but they're never handed over for the customer to sign. Boots, this is.

When you do the maths for switching certificates, take into account that you may only need one testosterone prescription a year, because it comes in "man sized" amounts, and women use a teeny percentage of that. So if that is the only thing you have other than HRT, it's probably worth just using the HRT one and paying the script price for the T.

@Rosti1981

Would totally agree with @Negroany - I'm still using the fated testosterone pump from 5th July and it's going strong!

At the moment I have one other non HRT prescription too and a general cert till end of the year. Will do the maths when it's time to renew! Good point though... I have loads of gels at the mo and only on my second prescription of it since Jan.

When a script is sent electronically by your prescriber to your chosen pharmacy, the pharmacy prints it off (on white paper not green) and the back has all the relevant boxes on for the various exemptions. That then goes in the same pile as the scripts printed in the GP surgery and handed to the patients o be sent off to NHSBSA after the medication is handed over to the patient.

it will be the paper copy of the electronic script that has to go back to Boots for them to investigate whether it’s signed by the patient or not.

I just wanted to say thanks to the OP and others for sharing experiences on this thread.

I went to pick up my HRT today. Same items I have always had. The pharmacy was busy and noisy and I am partially deaf.

Pharmacy assistant: do you pay for your prescriptions?
Me: I have an HRT pre-pay certificate
PA: Oh, pre-pay? Ok

(Types into iPad, hands it to me with only a signature box showing)

Me: can I just check what I'm signing please? It's HRT pre-pay not the general pre-pay
PA: They're the same.
Me: on the paper form it was a separate box. Could you just show me what you selected please?

PA huffs and rolls eyes but shows me that yes, she selected the main pre-pay option and yes, there was a separate HRT Option at the bottom of the list.

If I hadn't questioned it, I'm guessing I would have been guilty of prescription fraud ☹️ as it was, I was only guilty of pissing off the lady in the pharmacy.

They do seem fairly clueless.

I checked on the list the brand of progesterone they gave me (GP just prescribes micronised progesterone) and the brand isn't on the list. Having checked my stock they have given me three brands now, and only one is on the list.

This isn't my fault. The pharmacy had no idea what I was talking about and kept saying my GP hadn't prescribed the thing I was pointing at (I wasn't actually pointing at anything, I was just showing them the list under the start letter of the thing she had given me, to show that thing isn't on it).

I'm going to write to the ICB for clarification of how this works!

Would yours be covered by this clause on the website with the list?

Generic versions of these medicines are also covered if the generic drug name shows on the prescription. The generic drug name is usually the name of the active ingredient in the medicine.

My GP sends my prescription directly to the pharmacy, who make it up and hand it over in a sealed bag. This time I have three different brands, but the prescription just lists the generic drug names.

Ah, yes, probably, thank you! I didn't spot that - but the pharmacist should be aware of it.

Yes, mine goes straight to the pharmacy when I order the repeat script.

My pharmacy asks if I have a prescription but makes it clear that I need to check if the given meds are covered. I thought this was the norm
and responsibility lies with the individual. Pharmacy don’t have the access to check individual’s certificates/validity and compare with meds.

It's up to you to check if your medication is covered, nobody else