Medicine - Is the price we pay too high?

As from 1st April prescriptions for people living in Wales are free. This caused a lot of discussion, why do some people living within a few miles of the Welsh border have to pay while those in Wales get their medicines free? Why should any of us have to pay? Why shouldn't we all pay? There is no answer to this I feel, we all have different opinions. How many of us know the true cost of prescription drugs? Even at the prices we are charged for a prescription this does not meet the true cost. I do admit it can be a financial burden to be ill and need to have a prescription made up for two or three items on a regular basis if you have to pay for ...  Read the complete review

All through our working lives we ‘donate’ substantial amounts of our earnings to the State in the form of National Insurance payments. One of the things this goes towards is the National Health Service. It seems to me that the thing about the National Health Service is that it is free health care so long as you are not ill! As soon as you require medication you have to fork out £6.10 for each item on your prescription. This being the case I think it is important to understand the system and ensure you are getting the medication for as cheap as you can. FREE PRESCRIPTIONS The first essential step is to check whether you are ...  Read the complete review

I have spent the last 4 years being poked, prodded and generally mauled by the medical profession. I have been given so many drugs that I should really rattle. Many of them were ineffective or worse caused side effects that were worse than the problem they were trying to diagnose (then treat). Each time I had to pay. Well not strictly true I had a baby as well in that time so I managed to get some time off the payment lark. However I am now havning to pay again and am now in a worse condition than ever. At the moment I am on prescription painkillers and antidepressants. This means that once a month I am forking out £12 just to be able to get through that month. ...  Read the complete review

I come from the only civilized country in the world that does not have universal healthcare coverage and I sort of like it. For me it is just one more way to feel good about having a good job with a good insurance plan. Lots of people complain about HMOs and PPOs where you have to go to the quacks in your plan but I like it. When Stalina was born it cost me $45, I basically should have only been charged $15 but then these jerks charged me for my wife's epideral and stuff. Perscriptions cost me $2 a time and I can only get a 30 day supply of whatever I need but that is ok too. Now that humpty back idiot Popeye who has a good job was too lazy to fill out the ...  Read the complete review

As a GP, I prescribe in excess of 100 prescriptions per week. Many of these are to payment-exempt patients, but others have to pay the standard prescription cost. There are arguements for and against this system. As I view it, most people can afford to pay the prescription charge, and the fact that you are effectively being overcharged for certain items (1 week's amoxycillin costs £3.86), is supposed to outweigh the costs of other items. (Anyone with shingles? Your treatment cost is £75.11 - fancy paying for that privately?!!) However, no-one can deny that the NHS is severely underfunded. Even with the prescription charge intact, the Health ...  Read the complete review