A good day to bury bad news Part 2: …You might remember that Medical Card there was all the fuss over? November 5, 2008
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics.trackback
Am I being too cynical when I read..? Am I? Am I really?
MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney has signalled that some types of drugs could be removed from the scope of the medical card scheme as part of new reforms under consideration.
Ms Harney also indicated that certain forms of medication could be excluded from the drug payment scheme, which reimburses private patients for the cost of drugs above a particular threshold.
And also:
Obviously we want appropriate prescribing, there is no doubt about that; medication is expensive and we want to ensure that it is prescribed in an appropriate fashion,” she said.
“Clearly, protocols are very important in relation to when and how medication is prescribed.”
But Ms Harney said there were also issues regarding medication that was currently available free of charge in Ireland that might not necessarily be appropriate in current circumstances.
A new ‘reformed’ Medical Card, not worth the medicines it prescribes…
It is tawdry; and incompetent on a couple of levels.
If she means that she will only pay for generics instead of branded drugs they why doesn’t she say so? If she is just being mean then why doesn’t she say so? The woman can not communicate; sadly I don’t believe anybody in health in this country can. They exist in a world of I know best and don’t tell them anything or they might get uppity.
So, there we have it, dreadful communication and worse execution and an inability to prioritise needs.
Your previous post on the vaccination for young girls is as depressing as well; and for the same reasons. Is this bloody woman incapable of ringing her own GP to find out the cost?
She reminds me of George W. It was not the that he was a right wing…etc. etc. that got to me, well it got to me a lot actually, but the main objection was that he was incompetent.
Organising a bus queue is not actually that difficult, and there are places you can go to be taught how to do it. Like the Public Library, this has some jolly good books on the subject. They start with bus queues and move on to management and communicating.
Though, I expect that the Library service is the next for the chop, founded as it was by nasty socialists like Carnegie. Well if you are without a Library you’ll never know he wasn’t will you?
Yep, that’s it exactly. Where though do they stop cutting?
Library services are traditionally first in line for cuts – well, according to librarians, anyway. To be honest I can understand it, it’s not life and death.
So will be faced with the appalling spectacle, as in the UK, where patients go to court to get the state to pay for life-savings medicines which some bean counter has deemed not worth it.
True Eoin.
ejh, I think libraries are essential.
In Paris we though we had forgotten my partners Blood Pressure tablets. We persuaded a pharmacy to sell us some. Half the Irish price for double strength ones.And they were in 30 pills per packet. In Ireland the pharmacists operate a 28 day month. Oh the Pharmacists told s to split them. Both the state and the consumer are being ripped off big time.
ejh, I think libraries are essential.
I am, as it goes, a professionally-qualified librarian, and I think libraries are essential. But if you lose 50% of your book budget for the year, the world doesn’t stop turning.
(Of course the savings aren’t that great, either, because the budget isn’t. This fattened-up public sector isn’t quite so fat as people like to think it is, when they look for savings on non-essential items.)
Had to get a Ventolin spray here yesterday, cost me forty-seven cents. How much is it in Ireland?
That’s true ejh. Just on the larger scale… it pains me. And it’s also insane to make cuts there in economies and societies that depend on education and knowledge.
No idea re the other idea.
Jim, that’s appalling.
[...] to all girls. You can imagine that in view of the events of the past number of days in relation to cervical cancer vaccination programme cuts in the South I took note. There’s a website she was promoting, it’s called Help Protect [...]
Email to Mary Harney sent tonight.
Dear Minister Harney,
I read with distress your comments in the Irish Times of 5th November last where you say the cost of medication and its appropriateness “was a huge issue for all of us”.
I would submit that, in this case, it would be more of an issue for the 200 women who will be diagnosed with cervical cancer this coming year and even more so for the 80 women
who will die from this illness. If the “appropriateness” is an issue, what about the Pain and suffering that will be caused by you in canceling this invaluable scheme ?
If the latter is not an issue for you then, I imagine that the “cost of medication” is. So, purely from a cost standpoint, as opposed to that of your responsibility as Minister of Health to ensure your fellow citizens
have proper access to medical treatment, how much will it cost to look after 200 victims of cervical cancer next year for periods ranging from 6 months to possibly 3 years ? Would you think less than or greater than
10 Million Euros ? If you are making a budget surplus, how much would you need for it to be equivalent to the lives of 200 fellow women ? What’s your price on a woman’s life ?
From the “Summary of 2009 Budget Measures” …
“The changes for ATM and Debit cards will take effect for the year ending 31 December 2008, the duty for which is normally collected from bank customers by financial institutions in early 2009.
These changes are expected to cost €12 million in 2008 and will cost €14 million in a full year.”
I can only assume that reducing the applicable stamp duty on ATM / Debit cards from 5 euros to 2.50 euros and spending 14 million euros of the taxpayers money doing so, is more important than implementing a
simple measure that could save the lives of hundreds of women, possibly including my 9 year old daughter Annah . Just to bring this in to a personal perspective, Annah, on her mother’s side, comes from a family of 3 sisters. The oldest sister, Oane, died of cancer at age 33, followed by her mother, Ineke, a year later. This is an inordinate amount of suffering for one family. Annah’s mother, Doutsen, was, last year, informed of the presence of abnormal cells after a Cervical Screening. Another member of her family was also informed of the same finding. Have we moved away from ATM / Debit cards and “appropriateness” yet Minister ?
The effectiveness of the Cervical Cancer Vaccine has already been proven, it’s not a matter of “appropriateness”. If you need to save money, then
* Explore the possibility of prescribing generics, as they are
currently doing in France.
* Stop General Practitioners from prescribing drugs based on how
well they are compensated by Pharmaceutical Sales representatives.
* Impose a levy on the obscene profits that are enjoyed by these
same Pharmaceutical Companies.
* Increase the Income levy from 2% to 2.1% for people who earn
more than 100,000 euros a year and won’t have a problem paying a
consultant in Blackrock Clinic to privately vaccinate their daughters.
But do not condemn my daughter and hundreds of other girls in Ireland to the risk of a long and painful death, when you have the power and the duty to prevent it.
Yours Sincerely,
Andrew Hughes
“In Paris we though we had forgotten my partners Blood Pressure tablets. We persuaded a pharmacy to sell us some. Half the Irish price for double strength ones.And they were in 30 pills per packet. In Ireland the pharmacists operate a 28 day month. Oh the Pharmacists told s to split them. Both the state and the consumer are being ripped off big time.”
I raised the price of low dose aspirin (used for BP) with the (then) Consumer Overlord a while back. In essence the answer was (and still is, Kenny tried to prise it open without any effect) that the Dept and the pharmacuetical wholesalers have a deal whereby certain drugs are priced down and others up, the 28 pack is a typcial example. You can buy 100 pack low dose aspirin in Boots at heathrow for around a £, you cannot get the same pack in Boots in the ROI, only a 28 pack at about €6!!!
As to generics, the deal ensures that only branded drugs are delivered under the GMS….. Kenny discovered that. Unfortunately, Kenny et all never follow up.
Bye, Barry