Official Prescriptions article discussion
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I am aware that Asda has started doing IVF drugs, but how can you find out how much they are and where to get them from?
I have looked on their online sites but can't find it!
Cheers
Hello,
I've been looking into getting my IVF drugs as cheap as I can.
I got an invoice from the clinic for a total of £1298 for one cycle's worth of drugs.
I also asked the clinic for a private prescription, which I took to Asda. The pharmacist there was very helpful. She looked each drug up on her computer & told me how much each one would cost & worked out the total. It came to £971. Quite a saving! She said that they give you the drugs at cost price. She ordered them for me & I picked them up the next day. Also, the clinic wanted to charge me 1.5% if I paid by credit card. Asda didn't, so I paid with my Tesco credit card & got my Tesco points into the bargain!
Obviously, they don't tell you any of this at the clinic, but it's well worth a visit to Asda.0 -
The cheapest medication available online by quite some margin is from Dr Fox pharmacy (do a search - i cant post link!)
Their prices include the cost of an online medical questionnaire and prescription - before the medicine is sent out by the pharmacy a doctor reviews your answers.
It is a genuine service regulated in the UK by all the relevant agencies.
As an example - look at the comparison chart of prices for ED treatment here: (trying to post link here - look in Dr Fox "News" section, or search for "Dr Fox Erectile Dysfunction Clinic Prices Compared")
http://www.doctorfox.co.uk/comparative-costs.html
Dr Fox is generally 25%-35% cheaper than all other reputable UK online clinics.
This is quite an eye opener and for those that use those drugs a significant saving.
Dr Fox is also cheaper for all other medication they offer when the cost of a prescription is factored in.0 -
I had some nurofen delivered from chemistdirect.co.uk that expires feb/11 last week.
Have emailed them to tell them and at first they apologised and then emailed again to say that is was on the product description. Wasn't when I ordered them, and have just looked and they have further reduced the product and put on there that it's short-dated. I bought 3 (why would i buy three packs if they are expiring this month) on sale for 1 pound, and no warning of the short-date.
They also sent me a face cream that expired in 2009. They say that it's ok to use upto 12 months from the date it is opened, even though i attached the email from the manufacturer stating that a retailer should not be selling out of date Neutrogena products. As the packaging was in french i contacted neutrogena for product info and they replied informing me that it was out of date.
I would not recommend them.
Update:
Well, had a good response from chemist direct re the expired products today.
It seems the chemist direct marketing team came across my posts on this forum and the Chemist Direct customer services manager called and left a message on my mobile highlighting the posts i had left online and seeming to feel that the matter had been handled...:huh:
I called back and spoke with the manager regarding the expired products for longer than i would have bothered usually (considering i have 8 expired or short dated products out of 15 ordered) , but she seemed genuine & she wanted to get things resolved.
She told me that the purchasing order for the Neutrogena pure glow product was made in good faith (meaning they didn't check the expiry date before selling it) with Neutrogena in France, their supplier for the moisturiser, and they would contact them directly regarding them being out of date-2009. She said the same would be done for the Roc products that expired 30th Sept 2010.
The Nurofen she believes was marketed as short-dated, I told her that when I purchased it it was not listed as short dated, and I said if that is the case that there was a short dated notice it was not obvious enough - i told her i saw the warning on the current further reduced listing and that I never buy close to expired pills. I always makes sure there is at the very least a year plus on all pills including vitamins before expiry. As things like that sometimes won't get used as often, so having a longer life to me is more important than price as otherwise it would just end up in the bin rather than of any use.
I also spoke to her about the Spam issue, she said that they were aware of it and they think it's to do with the settings on PC's. I told her that I have virus protection that allows me to set everything myself and I didn't believe my computer to be the reason behind it when so many others are having the same issues after buying from their website. She said she would feed this back to the IT dept.
I spoke to her about delivery timescales, as I didn't get a dispatch email and it was a week later that my parcel turned up, very different to their banner that lists "Free FAST delivery" on orders over 40pounds. She checked & the order was dispatched on the 28th of Jan, 2 days after the order... so they must use slow courier service, she didn't have an answer for that one, which is fair enough, deliveries are always a bit of hit and miss, though having a good courier company always helps.
Though i forgot to mention that the Neutrogena moisturiser pure glow is still listed for sale on their website, I'm sure that they'll stop selling...
The manager promised a refund for the expired and short-dated products and said that she would send a postage paid envelope out if she required the products to investigate.
So as I have been able to get a clear response (previously all the emails to chemist direct kept coming back as undelivered or they would take 2 days to reply) from chemist direct i feel that at least this matter is or is being resolved now. Phew!
There are quite a few relevant threads, so i will post this on another so others can see the outcome.Quidco: 999.76 cash back so far!0 -
Minor Ailment Scheme allows patients to obtain medication for minor ailments directly from a pharmacy without the need for a consultation with a GP, or a prescription.
- Patients who are exempt from prescription charges (ie: Children / OAPs) receive the medication free,
- For patients that pay for their prescriptions they will have to pay no more than a prescription charge.
Constipation, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, headache, earache/temperature, sore throat, chesty & dry coughs, nasal congestion, hay fever, oral & vaginal thrush, head lice, athletes foot, teething/mouth ulcers, bites & stings, threadworms, contact / seborrhoeic dermatitis.
Check your local NHS website (ie: Bury, PCT, Lancs) for a list of Participating Pharmacies & Participating GPs - Apparently, you just get a card from the participating GP & present it at the chemist instead of payment & providing there is no abuse of the scheme, it works OK.
PLEASE NOTE: the minor ailment scheme no longer includes coughs and sore throat symptoms. I ment to get some cough mixture for my two year old and was refused as the minimum 'requirement' to be eligible is a chest infection! they were annoyed about it but I guess some people have caused the system! bit silly really cos if you suspect a chest infection you'd take them to the doctors anyway!
it does cover for conjunctivitis!
I'm not sure if this varies across different areas.0 -
Another way of reducing the cost of the pre payment certificate for people with regular medication needs is to only get it half the time.
If you're on regular meds, then the GP may be willing to prescribe up to 3 months at a time. If so get the pre-payment cert, when you get the first 3 months, then just before it expires, get the next 3 months worth of meds.
It would probably work for those on Monthly meds too, but that may not work out cheaper than a 12month certificate.0 -
May I just point out a rather unfortunate and misleading statement made in the latest news article about this? The statement is that prescriptions are free for those on benefits or for severe disablement. This is actually incorrect. It is only certain benefits such as Job Seeker's Allowance or Income Support (or whatever it is called nowadays). I have been on high level care and mobility Disability Living Allowance for 10 years. You can't get higher when it comes to DLA and this does reflect severe disablement. For the record I have severe osteo arthritis which sometimes means I cannot even get out of my house for up to two weeks at a time when I have a bad occurrence (as in when it is so painful I cry, yes a 48 yr old man in tears). I also have IBS which, if I have a bad attack when out means I may only have a minute or so to find a toilet. Again, it is also excruciatingly painful. There are many other aspects to my conditions which mean that I cannot walk either very far or much more than a shuffle at the best of times. I dare not go out alone because I am quite simply not safe either walking along a road or trying to cross it. The last time I tried I broke my ankle because the arthritis kicked in and literally pitched me forward onto my face on the ground. Let's say it was rather painful.
So, form that you would expect to classify me as being pretty severely disabled. Yet, until last year when I was diagnosed as having both diabetes and an under active thyroid gland I had to pay full whack for my prescriptions. Both the diabetes and the under active thyroid gland 'entitle' me to free prescriptions on health grounds.
My wife suffers from high blood pressure and she is asthmatic. In fact she has been touch and go more than once in hospital after an asthma attack. She really was not expected to make it through the night. She cannot get her prescriptions for free! Yet she has to take both sets of medications for life.
The system is wrong especially when you can get a perfectly healthy millionaire in Scotland, Wales or NI who can get free prescriptions.Kevan - a disabled old so and so who, despite being in pain 24/7 still manages to smile as much as possible
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I'm not sure if this varies across different areas.
Minor ailment schemes vary across England. Your local PCT determines which conditions are and to who. Best to google it.The system is wrong especially when you can get a perfectly healthy millionaire in Scotland, Wales or NI who can get free prescriptions.
I assume you know about HC2 exemptions? Those who struggle to pay are able to get free prescriptions (and even help with travel costs for some) by completing a HC1 form:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_10018978
The link above also lists those who are eligible for charge exemptions.0 -
I am approaching 60 next month but still in employment, will I be entitled to free NHS prescriptions then. Previously used a pre pay certificate but would be nice to be able to save some.
Thanks
Michelle0 -
I assume you know about HC2 exemptions? Those who struggle to pay are able to get free prescriptions (and even help with travel costs for some) by completing a HC1 form:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_10018978
The link above also lists those who are eligible for charge exemptions.
Yes, my wife and I have gone into this many times over the last ten years. On the face of it you would think I, at least, would have qualified. Sadly no. My wife is on a low income (about £11,000 PA), I'm on a fixed income (DLA) and we cannot get any help at all. I do now because I am exempt from charges for medical reasons because of both the diabetes and my under active thyroid gland. Prior to this though we both had to buy pre-payment certificates to save a small amount.
However, just because I now get my prescriptions for free (I'd gladly swap this to have my health back though) it still does not stop the system being grossly unfair to others out there who are in the same boat as I was.Kevan - a disabled old so and so who, despite being in pain 24/7 still manages to smile as much as possible0 -
I used to do this, until I got to sixty and the free prescriptions kicked in. I would get the scrip from the doctor then buy the pre-paid certificate online starting that day, but then I printed out the receipt and took that with me to the chemist's, Boots as it happened. I ticked the box to say I had a pre-paid certificate and no money changed hands so no need to go back later.Dubyabeeay wrote: »I apply for a 3 month Pre paid certificate ONLINE the same week that my script is due. You can state the start date on the application. A day or so after this date I go to the Chemist with my script and buy the 3 items and explain that I have a PPC en-route. They will give you a reciept (FP57 I think). When your PPC arrives (usually less than a week) take it and the reciept back to the chemist and they will repay you the charges.
Given that my prescriptions were for 12 weeks supply it was more like buy two three-month PPCs in eleven months not 12, but as you say, well worth the saving.0
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