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Prescription charges for Type 2

Justacountryboy

Member
Messages
6
Location
Norfolk
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi all,
Had a bit of a kick in the teeth this weekend. With my DN help I have been reducing my meds whilst keeping my BG levels sensibly low (after years of ignoring them!) I have stopped taking the statin, metformin and pioglitazone. I'm still taking lercanidipine and lisinopril while my BP is slightly high.
Anyway Saturday I get a letter from the NHS in the form of a Penalty Charge Notice asking for £100 plus £18 prescription charge for June. This is supposedly on the basis that I am no longer entitled to free prescriptions. I can sort of see the logic, but it seems very harsh.
Any suggestions before I get in touch with them?
Thanks
 
If you are no longer taking diabetes medication you are no longer entitled to free prescriptions unless you qualify in some other way.though I think the fine is a bit on the harsh side I think you will probably have to pay up.
 
Wow, that's harsh. I'm assuming your BS levels are now below the diabetes threshold? If you are still in the diabetes range then the DN may be able to help e.g. start minimal Metformin again which is cheap and safe.
 
If you had a valid medical exemption number at the time the prescriptions were last filled, then I fail to see how or why you could be penalised. Unless perhaps it came to light that your certificate had already expired.
 
As Jim says, check to see when your exemption was valid for.
 
When my blood sugars came down to normal levels mostly my GP wanted to in fact did for a short period take me off metformin I then put the argument to him that as metformin helped me with weight control he agreed to put me on minimum daily dose instead.

Mind you as I'm over 60 and have MG I qualified for free prescriptions any way so it made no difference to me. But I think that even if your doctor puts you back on metformin if your exemption had run out it would not act retrospectively and the fine would still stand.

So as has been said check the dates and if you had exemption appeal the fine.
 
If you have a certificate it is valid until the expiry date even if you no longer take diabetes drugs.
 
Kim Possible said:
But the point is you have to have the certificate and reapply for it every 3 years
Click to expand...
Just a small comment, my exemption for diabetes is for 5 years not 3.
 
Err if you had said certificate and it is still valid contest the fine and prescription charge if you did not have said certificate then don't make waves and just pay the fine and charge.



True until you reach a certain age then a certificate is not necessary you just tick the age related box.
 
To qualify for free prescriptions diabetics have to be on medication (tablets or injections) and you have to get an medical exemption certificate, this will be filled out by the gp, and sent off where they will issue you with a card. As others have said this is valid for 5 years. Even if you come off all diabetes medication it is still valid. Unless you qualify for free prescriptions for other reasons, if you didn’t have the medical exemption certificate you should have been paying the charge for prescriptions. If you had an exemption certificate that’s in date you need to challenge the fine, if it’s out of date then you will have to pay the fine. If you never had an exemption certificate then pay the fine, stay quiet, and hope they don’t look back at the records and fine you for every prescription you got without paying.
 
And if the exemption certificate has expired and you no longer qualify for a new one, it might be worth looking into a pre-payment certificate if you’re still taking other meds.

You’ll need to do the maths to see if that would be more cost effective than paying as you go, but I used one for years for migraine medication and was always surprised at just how few prescriptions were needed to make it worthwhile.
 
i thought we were diabetic for the rest of our lives as it cant be cured as such ..on that basis as i self fund my meter and strips i always tick the box for vat exemption not the same i suppose as ops post but am i in the wrong?
 
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Diawara said:
i thought we were diabetic for the rest of our lives as it cant be cured as such ..on that basis as i self fund my meter and strips i always tick the box for vat exemption not the same i suppose as ops post but am i in the wrong?
Click to expand...
You are correct, you will alway be diabetic therefore entitled to vat exemption for supplies, as having the diagnosis is the qualifying factor (unless they change this in the future). For nhs prescriptions the qualifying factor is being medicated for diabetes.
 
Thanks all for the information, the last post nicely sums up me misunderstanding. I have now found my exemption card, sadly expiring in 2017! I cannot ever remember applying for one, let alone a renewal (I've been on met etc from 2006).

I'll have to pay my charge and work harder to get off the BP pills!

Thanks
 
I was lucky enough if that's the correct way of describing it to be designated and registered as a disabled war pensioner the MOD provided me with a green card this meant that any prescribed medication for that disability or linked to it was paid by the MOD my GP at the time always ensured when writing me a script for multiple items one always qualified for exemption and if only one item on a script does not have to be paid for then the entire script is exempt so for a long time I did not require an NHS exemption card.but never paid for prescriptions.
 
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