Free medication for all? (Medicine - Is the price we pay too high?)

Member Name: little devil

Product:	Medicine - Is the price we pay too high?
Date:	29/06/01 (256 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: some drugs need to be paid for, cheaper than other countries

Disadvantages: cost is high, many drugs are over used in this country, have to pay per item

There has been a huge out cry recently about the cost of medication, particularly prescriptions, and the fact that some chronic conditions still have to pay for their medication. I use a lot of medication, being susceptible to illnesses, and find the cost can be a little over powering. I know a friend who is asthmatic yet will not get another inhaler, as he simply cannot afford, playing devil advocate I think!

The view of people on this subject will vary vastly, but I feel that changes need to be implemented and costs cut. As with anything else I suppose we are paying over the odds yet still just put up with it.

The cost of medicine…
Well this varies, it depends if we are talking prescription or over the counter drugs. A prescription, from your doctor, will set you back £6, considering a lot of drugs have to be bought this way a lot of money is being made. Yes a few drugs cost a lot more than this but there are many which are considerably cheaper.

Chemists can sell some drug without a prescription, and there is currently a debate over if they should be given more power or not. Under the current system the pharmacy can sell drugs such as painkillers and sleeping tablets (Nytol) without a prescription form the doctor. These drugs do range in price, but are generally a lot cheaper than getting a prescription.

For example.
My mother suffers from hayfever and asked me to pick up her prescription for her, I did and it cost me £6 For the much needed medication. However my other half refuses to go to the doctor, as men do, and so I had to buy over the counter hayfever relief for him. This cost me £2.99 and works just as well as what was prescribed by the doctor.

Who prices the drugs…?
The Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) sets the cost of prescription drugs; it is an independent body of the NHS. Its function is to:

- Check the prices of prescription drugs
- Keep a close check on
the costs and number of drugs prescribed
- Administration duties to do with low income claims
- Other duties

The cost of over the counter drugs are set by the drugs companies, who have an almost monopoly on health care. If you need a painkiller then you will be willing to pay a price over the top, because you need it and there is no alternative. These are profit making companies, so alarm bells should ring automatically there.

Who is entitled to free prescriptions…?
In this day and age of the welfare state and all that there are certain groups of people who do not have to pay for their prescription drugs, I would be at the doctors all the time if I got my drugs for free! These include:

- The young, elderly or those in full time education (16/17/18)
- Certain medical conditions
- If you or a partner are claiming certain aid from the government, such as income support.
- Low income families

Conditions that allow free prescriptions…
There are certain medical conditions in this country, which do not require the sufferer to pay charges for their medicine. However this list is vastly out of date and needs revising as soon as possible. When the NHS was first set up it had the aim of providing all medicines free of charge, this was too costly, hence why we have to pay for our drugs.

You are entitled to free medication if:
- You are prescribed the contraceptive pill, well cheaper than paying for all those extra babies!
- Chronic illnesses, which require constant medication.
- Over active thyroid, but not an underachieve one.
- Basically if you have a condition which the government has said is so server that you cannot be expected to pay for your own medication.

I find it amazing that under the current system some serious conditions qualify for free prescriptions yet other do not.

What drugs should be free…?
Well I suppose the answer to this
will be different from person to person, I have strong views on this and think that whilst not all medicines should be prescribed free of charge (as the economics of the situation will not allow) there are certain drugs that should be free of charge…

- Heart medication
- Asthma medication
- All medicine for chronic illnesses
- Contraception
- Medicine for conditions which have a great effect on your ability to function correctly
- Pregnancy drugs

Sadly in my ideal situation many people wound still have to pay out, including me for my iron tablets and anti depressants etc. I don’t think ‘lifestyle’ drugs should be free, prescriptions are over used in this country and cutting their cost would lead to even more abuse of the system.

Developed countries, such as Britain, prescribe too many drugs in the average year. Yes we cannot set a limit or decide what is normal, but surely prescribing someone a drug due to social problems is wrong. Gets you out of the hair of the doctor though.

Low cost ways of getting medication…
The Internet has its advantages, and it allows low cost drugs to be provided to remote and needy areas. However this is open to abuse and allows people access to drugs easily, too easily. This is not so much a problem in the UK, yet, but it is on the USA, who do pay more for prescription drugs than we do.

So why does medicine cost…?
This is simple, it is basic economics, I know wrong section of speakers corner. Medicine is demanded and many of us need it to lead a ‘normal’ life, be it removing symptoms or curing a crippling illness. The demand means the products are ‘inelastic’ this means if price increases demand is not as responsive and people will still buy the products. We have no alternative. If I am ill and need medication I will buy it, I might moan about the cost, but I still buy it readily and happily.
<
br>£6 may not be a lot to some people, and we can argue that it is low, considering some drugs may cost you £40, yet if you have more than one drug on your prescription prices can easily get out of control. I think it is too much!


I feel that we are exploited and medicine costs are way too high. When the NHS was founded it aimed to provide everyone with free health care and medication. This proved a huge strain on the budget and took money away from more needy areas. As a result charges were put in place, with some conditions allowing you to still get free medication.

However the list of those, which constitute server enough to warrant no charges, is out of date and needs to be looked at. Yet this has not happened, simply because of the huge costs that will result. Therefore the government are reluctant to change the situation already in place and simply just plod along with the stupid and out of date list they have. It needs revising no question about that.

Having said that there are countries in this world, which pay more than we do, take the USA for example.
They do not have a national health service and so no body to check the prices and so they pay out a lot more than we do. Much to their annoyance.

The price of medicine should not be dictated by the companies that produce it, although they are regulated some what by the government, surely a non profit making organisation should be introduced to manufacture and sell the medicine to our local pharmacy.

The NHS needs to be updated and looked at by the government, as does the cost of out medication. We all moan about it yet need the drugs so are forced to pay for them. I just think it is a shame when certain people have to pay out a fortune for their medication. There is a certificate you can buy, which is basically a way of paying for prescriptions up front, this does make it a little cheaper, if you get a lot of medication, but the extreme costs
are still there.


Medication is too highly priced and needs to be revised. I do not want free prescriptions for all but there are some conditions that should just get the free drugs. The health secretary needs to look at the state of medication in this country and do something about it. Either that or prices will keep escalating. £9.99 for a pack of paracetomol anyone?

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