Transplant patients = no free medications in the UK

I was a bit shocked at this. I didn't realise not many people knew about this, so I wanted to make more people aware of it.

I do wonder if it is certain cachement areas that charge for anti rejection meds, or if it is all over the UK.

I just find it completely bizarre how things are worked out, based on illness vs what you have to pay for.

ETA I wanted to try and keep this on topic, it seems to have turned into a few personal remarks aimed at me, which are quite hurtful. People shouldnt try to judge me....I just wanted to make people aware of this and to find out how much of the UK it covered.

reply to post by CherryV


well big pharma has to make money somehow
they are broke as

I am in the U.S. but what I have been led to believe about your healthcare system over there, I would have though that would have been covered. I think its tragic that its not. I have a relative who needed a transplant (has since passed away) but was unable to go through with it due to the after care cost. I always imagined it would have been different in a European country or In Canada. I guess I was wrong.

reply to post by calstorm


Sorry for your loss, that is awfully sad.

I know it is very expensive in the US, around $500,000 for the transplant + 1 year of meds (2006, so thats probably increased a lot).

ETA personal info removed

reply to post by CherryV


I don't think its selfish at all. It is something you are required to have to live, just like air food an water. I think its its outrageous you have to pay so much, let alone pay at all, considering it is mandatory for you. I am sure there a plenty of things that are covered that only improve ones quality of life, but people could survive with out.

reply to post by CherryV


Seems strange that you dont get your prescriptions free with such a serious condition. I would make sure you look down all the available options. I haven't paid for a prescription for years with my illness, as the drugs are essential to my well being. But I never even get asked to show proof.

The exemption rules were created in the 1960s and the government hasnt changed them, with the exception of 2006 Cancer treatment was added (and too rightly).

Its completely bizarre, as any transplant is classed as a treatment and not a cure. I know other types of transplant have more difficulties than mine, but its still all crazy I think.

www.nhs.uk...

Hey, what?

Al Rx on the NHS is free, aside from the prescription charge of £7 if you're working, pregnant or a child.

My brother is a transplant recipient yet has never paid a thing for his drugs. My colleague sat next to me is a transplant recipient but again, has never paid anything for treatment or drugs.

I'm having difficulty seeing what it is you're being charged for...

reply to post by stumason


Why do you think it is free? Certainly not in my area are not free, no one has ever said they are free if you are working. And neither are any other prescriptions. I have been trying to fight this for 5 yrs now, they are not free!

Ugh madness..

How is it they can enforce laws that can charge someone with failing to help at the scene of an accident, yet cases like this, a hospital can send you on your way sans the ability to survive out of the hospital should you not be able to afford the medications.

Is this for people who earn over a certain income? Surely that has to be the case, someone who simply cannot afford to purchase medicines required to live, I dont see how that can be possible.

then again, this world does my head in...

it's a wonder I'm not bunged in graylands....

reply to post by CherryV


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

You're paying the prescription charge...

It all makes sense now...

What you're paying there (£7.50) is a charge per prescription, not a charge for the meds as they are a damned site more expensive if you coughed up yourself.

No the Tx meds are not free. Maybe they have an underlying condition that makes it free for them, I dont, and in my case, no meds are free for me.

Maybe the cachement area makes them not free, but I have a friend 300 miles away and she was also told, nope, not free.

Maybe certain Tx meds are, for different types of Tx, but not for me/mine

reply to post by Ha`la`tha



If you get treated at a hospital, all the meds are free.

Originally posted by CherryV
Why do you think it is free? The Transplant meds are not free, no one has ever said they are free if you are working. And neither are any other prescriptions. I have been trying to fight this for 5 yrs now, they are not free!

Most drugs you get on prescription are actually much more expensive if you paid yourself. Imagine if you had to pay for your transplant itself! And you're moaning about the prescription charge? Move to Wales or Scotland then, they get theirs paid for completely.

"Fighting" it.. LOL... You're moaning that an operation that cost tens of thousands was given free and you have to pay a few quid for your prescription?

It's the prescription charge and is the same price per prescription regardless of the drugs you are getting, be they painkillers or strong steroids.

Originally posted by CherryV
If your brother and friend go into the clinic and ask, they will be told NO they are not free. That is a FACT.

For my brother, yes they are. For my work mate, he only pays the prescription charge. Much better than paying for the meds yourself, but feel free to go private and see how much the insurance firm will pay for then. In fact, they wouldn't even insure you as you have an existing chronic condition, so paying £7.50 for your course of meds is chump change compared to your forking out yourself.

Personally, I think your being a bit unrealistic and moaning about something that is actually benefitting you greatly. In fact, I think you're being a tad ungrateful. Exactly how many prescriptions do you need per month?

In an ideal world, there would no prescription charge in England, but that would incur massive costs for the state and this is a way to mitigate those costs. Scotland and Wales manage it because they don't have the costs of Westminster to worry about and get extra money per head from the Treasury compared to England.

Well, thank you so much for your understanding.
I am trying to make a point, that some of us struggle to pay for these meds, why does that make me ungrateful?
Of course I am grateful, I spent many MANY years being seriously ill.
Your comments are personal and unkind.

reply to post by CherryV


I'm sorry if I lack sympathy too, but if someone could take away my serious illness with a transplant I would be more than happy to lose my access to free prescriptions.

I understand you have a difficult medical issues concerning your transplant, but you should be grateful an operation was able to be performed to rectify your situation. At the moment you have to pay for prescriptions, which I assume if you work, you can afford. Should the worst happen and you lose your job, you will then get the meds for free, but surely better to be working.

Im not prepared to go into all the circumstances, I just feel that this topic should be addressed, I really do not need people telling me I am ungrateful, all I am asking for is some understanding why some meds are free for some conditions.. and some not. That is all.

I am not asking to be judged for speaking, Please keep personal opinions to yourself....I am wanting to find out why Tx patients have to pay for meds...in parts of the UK..simple as.

reply to post by CherryV


Sorry, but I call them as I sees them.

Firstly, you start off with a post that is misleading and also makes assumptions about others, namely that "most people aren't aware of this".. Well, actually, most people are well aware of the prescription charge and it is a bone of contention between people in England and those in Scotland or Wales.

Secondly, are you really asking us to believe that you were not aware of the prescription charge? It has been around for decades and covers every drug you get from the GP or outpatients, be it some Amoxicillin for an infection, to Wolfirin for you DVT or stroke treatment and most are aware of the difference between an outpatient and inpatient, hence why you don't pay for drugs in Hospital.

Thirdly, you can actually get a PPC (Prescription Prepayment Certificates) which is pretty good value for money. You can get a whole years unlimited prescriptions for £104. A damned site less than the same meds would cost you over a 12 month period if you paid yourself.

The thread/title/OP is not misleading, I am talking about anti rejection drugs, and paying for them. And after that i added about prescription drugs.

Dont try to create what I havent said...I never mentioned not knowing about paying for prescription drugs...stop trying to be clever.

You went off on a tangent making personal remarks about me.

I have nothing else to add.

Originally posted by CherryV
Im not prepared to go into all the circumstances, I just feel that this topic should be addressed, I really do not need people telling me I am ungrateful, all I am asking for is some understanding why some meds are free for some conditions.. and some not. That is all.

They're not though. Unless you are exempt in England (Children under 16, pregnant women, people over 60, young people in full-time education, people in receipt of certain benefits such as Income Support or Jobseekers' Allowance) then you pay the prescription charge for any outpatient treatment.

Originally posted by CherryV
I am not asking to be judged for speaking, Please keep personal opinions to yourself....I am wanting to find out why Tx patients have to pay for meds...in parts of the UK..simple as.

Because that is the way it has been since 1952, almost since the NHS was born. You are not paying for the meds, per se, your just contributing to the cost. When some treatments can tally up thousands of pounds in a year, paying a few quid for those same drugs is really a moot point.

Any surgery patient when they move to outpatient must pay the prescription charge unless they are exempt, as outlined above. It doesn't matter if you have a triple bypass or a transplant.