Harney's worst ever proposal (and that's saying something)

I am just sick of working my ass off, paying huge taxes and a mortgage plus the rest, when most, not all I know are getting everything free off our godforsaken government, a system where you are better off in this country to make a career out oof making babies instead of being a professional! We have to start discouraging this sponging off the state all the time when the working class are really suffering for it.
 
maybe a start would have been to say if you're happy with a generic brand then no fee, if you want a branded product then pay 50% of the cost. I think there would be a landslide towards generics straightaway, saving a lot of money. And bear in mind that a pharmacist will tell you that the generic is every bit as good, it just that some doctors like to keep their junket providers happy and some patients like brands, especially when they are not paying for them.

Now there might have to be some counterbalance with our own pharma producers, but I presume they are making their money on the new stuff which is under patent or whatever the protection is.
 
Betsy Og said:
And bear in mind that a pharmacist will tell you that the generic is every bit as good, it just that some doctors like to keep their junket providers happy
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and if a doctor writes a prescription with a branded name the pharmacist has to put that branded drug into the bag.
 
S.L.F said:
and if a doctor writes a prescription with a branded name the pharmacist has to put that branded drug into the bag.
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Trust me I have prescriptions and dispensing records that show generics were dispensed when trade/brand names were clearly on the script! Lets just say questions were asked - like what was being claimed!
 
"One person whose mother died, brought back 3 black bags full of unused medication, why, because her mother took what she could get."

My mother in law died in 1996 and I packed many black bags of unused medication when we were clearing out her house. My sister's mother in law died last year and she had to do the same. So I think it is only right that there should be some charge if for nothing else then to make people check if they need to fill a prescription if they allready have an unopen pack at home.
Wouldn't you wonder if they ever needed these prescriptions in the first place. Both these women lived until they were 85 and 83 years old. The medication didn't help them to live longer if it was still in the bag they got it in from the chemist unopened.
 
A 50c charge is going to have a minimal effect on this over-perscribing. If there is (as it seems from the stories on this thread and elsewhere) a serious problem with over-perscribing, this needs to be addressed urgently from the top down.

Use of generics would indeed be a great idea, but this is not the solution either. If the docs are scriptpad-happy, this needs to be sorted and managed.
 
Complainer said:
A 50c charge is going to have a minimal effect on this over-perscribing. If there is (as it seems from the stories on this thread and elsewhere) a serious problem with over-perscribing, this needs to be addressed urgently from the top down.

Use of generics would indeed be a great idea, but this is not the solution either. If the docs are scriptpad-happy, this needs to be sorted and managed.
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I agree. They threw in the over prescribing thing to deflect attention. It will have no impact on that issue.

It does seem though that they are intent on hitting medical card holders in some way though. They seem to have identified it as somewhere that can be targeted. I don't know enough about the scheme but as I said before I was shocked that a 50c charge could bring in €20-30m. Going by those amounts, I can see why they are targeting it. But like I say, I don't know enough to say if this is the right way or not.
 
Purple said:
... 40-60 million, it would seem.
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But that's an insane number, something like 10 - 15 scripts / citizen / annum. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing the 40-60 million, I just can't get my head around it.
 
mathepac said:
But that's an insane number, something like 10 - 15 scripts / citizen / annum. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing the 40-60 million, I just can't get my head around it.
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Im young (enough!) and reasonably healthy, however Id say I go through at least 6 - 8 scripts a year on minor stuff.

If thats me being healthy, I can only imagine how many scripts people with serious health problems go through.
 
Well not to get into oneupmanship or anything, but just as another example, I haven't presented a prescription at all this year. One last year I think. I'd say maybe about 3 in the last 5 years.
 
Caveat said:
Well not to get into oneupmanship or anything, but just as another example, I haven't presented a prescription at all this year. One last year I think. I'd say maybe about 3 in the last 5 years.
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Yes - it depends on the person. I rarely get a script for an 'illness', but do tend to get them for things like minor irritations like swimmers ear, or for non illnesses like birth control, anti inflammatories for sports type injuries etc... None of which I consider 'illnesses' and not things I feel are over prescribed to me - but as i say, it depends on the person.

I know my FIL gets quite a lot of scripts in a year, a definitely monthly one, plus odd ones here and there as well - he would easily cover 20 in a year.
 
I last went to the GP in 2008 for a check up – everything was fine so I haven’t been since. In my adult life I have presented about 4 scripts to a pharmacist. I have not taken antibiotics since I was 19 (I'm 39 now).
 
Megan said:
"One person whose mother died, brought back 3 black bags full of unused medication, why, because her mother took what she could get."

My mother in law died in 1996 and I packed many black bags of unused medication when we were clearing out her house. My sister's mother in law died last year and she had to do the same. So I think it is only right that there should be some charge if for nothing else then to make people check if they need to fill a prescription if they allready have an unopen pack at home.
Wouldn't you wonder if they ever needed these prescriptions in the first place. Both these women lived until they were 85 and 83 years old. The medication didn't help them to live longer if it was still in the bag they got it in from the chemist unopened.
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Why is this the case?

Is it the older person pretending to be sick to get sympathy/attention?
Is it the older person forgetting to take their medication and if so it appeared not to do them any harm if there were black bags full of the stuff.
 
Personally, I think the first place nurse Nightingale should start is with the crazy costs of medicines compared to Spain or the U.K.

Does anyone know why there is such a hugh difference ?
 
becky said:
... In my adult life I have presented about 4 scripts to a pharmacist...
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I'm 58 and I have a long-term illness card with 6 line-items on the prescription - 4 are meds and 2 are test-items for monitoring symptoms.

The GP endorses the script "Repeat 5 times", thus writing 3 scripts / annum, but the pharmacist dispenses 13 times / annum.

Is Harney counting me for 3 scripts / annum or 13?
 
mathepac said:
But that's an insane number, something like 10 - 15 scripts / citizen / annum. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing the 40-60 million, I just can't get my head around it.
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I'm disputing it. With about 1.5 million people holding medical cards it's an average of 40 scripts a year. I don't accept that for a minute.
 
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