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Type 1: Prescription fine

M

molivers73

Member
Hi I have just received a letter saying i have to pay a £96 fine for not having a valid medical exemption certificate. I was diagnosed Type 1 in 1998 and have never paid for prescriptions since. Nobody has ever told me about this. Has anyone else had the same thing and if so what was the outcome?
 
OMG how petty and ridiculous. I've never paid for drug prescriptions since diagnosed, although I used to need to buy syringes and needles etc. before they started handing them out free to drug addicts and suddenly realised that it would be somewhat controversial for diabetics to still pay for them! I was asked by a pharmacist a couple of times to see my medical exemption certificate and just stated that I had never been issued with one and asked him how to get one, but he just stated that it was issued automatically by the local health authority. I've still never seen one,. but being over 60 I don't need one anymore.
 
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Hi You need an exemption certificate, which you should have obtained and renewed every 5 years after diagnoses.
Basically what you have done is signed your prescription saying you have an exemption certificate when you do not, so as far as the nhs is concerned it's a fraudulent claim. So eat humble pie get the form filled in and signed by your GP and send it off.
 
Why would I eat humble pie if I have never been informed?
 
Also, it doesn't have to be your gp that signs the form, a practice nurse can sign it also, just make sure the form is stamped with the gp surgery name and address, it's a pre-paid envelope so there's no cost in posting it.
 
My original GP in 1972 just said you need to tick this box, sign the form as diabetes was a medical exemption and if you were being prescribed insulin then it was implicit that you had an exemption.
 
molivers73 said:
Why would I eat humble pie if I have never been informed?
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Where they will get you on this one is by stating that you signed the prescription saying that you had a medical exception certificate, you have to place a cross in the box that is relevant to why your entitled to free prescriptions.
 
molivers73 said:
Why would I eat humble pie if I have never been informed?
Click to expand...
Not knowing is no defence of the law. Surely you read what you sign? It's better to eat humble pie and see if you can be let off than having to cough up for the prescription. You are lucky they haven't asked for money going back to 1998 when you were diagnosed. [REMOVED LIBELOUS REMARK]
 
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rubold said:
My original GP in 1972 just said you need to tick this box, sign the form as diabetes was a medical exemption and if you were being prescribed insulin then it was implicit that you had an exemption.
Click to expand...

You are exempt but have no certificate which is the point being made.
 
You write the same reply on this subject every time not helpful so don't bother
 

Hi I have been type 1 for 25 years, I may have filled out a form at some time, but tbh I really can't remember. My exemption certificate card gets renewed automatically when it runs out in 2017.
When I tick the box, the pharmacy staff always write my exemption number underneath as proof ( even though we are on first name terms). There are so many fraudsters out there and if we are not paying for prescriptions, we have to show proof of why we are entitled.

Best wishes RRB
 
I have a little card that fits in my wallet which states on it 'medical exemption'. But like you I have never been asked to show it when picking up my prescription and I've always ticked the medically exempt box. I can see where you are coming from as for months after diagnosis, I didn't know anything about the certificate yet was told to tick it by my pharmacist. When it did come, I had to ask what it was as I didn't have a clue! hopefully you can be exempt from paying it as you weren't aware as you were never told!
 
i had to fill in a form and get gp to sign it then received an exemption card for 5 years to get meds free, before i got the card, i had to pay for them
 
Wow. This is a new one for me.. I have been ticking the "med xempt" box for ever.. It basically been a given due to the nature of my prescription.. I have never been asked & never filled a form, or own a card... I was wrong in assuming it was all signed off by my GP..

With respect to everyone else @CarbsRok has a fair point.

... Though an adequate plea & a letter to substantiate from the GP may wave the fine.
 

I'm amazed the pharmacy staff write your exemption number underneath. You would think if this was compulsory there would be a box on the form to enter the number. The back of the form has hardly changed in 42 years and has never had a box. Also when I think about it when receiving insulin etc. on repeat prescription I don't remember actually being given an opportunity to sign it.
 
Just to add to this, I have never had a certificate and just assumed that as the only reason for insulin was to treat diabetes there would be no need to get one. I have been T1 since 1983! No one has ever said a thing to me about this.
I suppose I will get one sorted now but this does seem like bureaucratic nonsense really and one of the many ways in which the NHS could save itself some money by reviewing processes.
For example when registering with a new GP I have to see the nurse before I then get to see the specialists at the hospital etc. The nurse often knows less than I do about T1 so why can't the GP just refer me directly? Sorry to derail the thread a bit but stuff like this annoys me
 
I was diagnosed in 2008...I was 13 at the time so didn't need one till I was 16! I am only 20 years old and got asked a few months back for mine and I had never heard of one either....they still gave me my prescription but I don't think this is @molivers73 fault...if he simply wasn't told that he needed a card then how was he to know? Because I didn't know at all!
 
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