Asthma petition again

This morning I received a ""House of Commons"" letter from my MP informing me that ""my"" comments had been forwarded to Patricia Hewitt-has anyone else received any sort of feedback?-is the petition being taken seriously?

Bluejam.

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I got one from my local MP a while ago but havent heard anything sinve

Andrea xx

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Some time ago Asthma Uk encouraged people to lobby their MPs and I received two letters from from him relating to that one.

The latest petition that we have been signing up for is a petition that doesnt close for ages and I wouldnt really expect to receive anything on that one.

I do know my MP is still on the case because he has featured recently in our local paper regarding this issue

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Don't get your hopes up.

After all, 1.8 million people signed the anti-road charging petition, and the response e-mail from the government (from Mr Blair himself, in fact) basically said, ""thanks for making your opinion known to us, but we're going to ignore it and do what we like anyway"".

I've said it before on this topic (admittedly a long time ago); there's no way asthma sufferers will get free prescriptions. Yes, the list of illnesses that qualify for free scripts is hopelessly outdated. But there are many other life-threatening conditions (heart conditions, for example) that also don't qualify for free prescriptions, and unless the government is going to make prescriptions free for all, then there would be an uproar if only some conditions were added to the list for free scripts and other weren't.

And, of course, the degree of dependency on medication varies greatly between asthma sufferers. You can be classed as an asthmatic if all you are prescribed is a blue inhaler that you maybe have to use once a month. Would it be fare for someone such as this to qualify for free prescriptions when chronic angina sufferers - who may not be able to walk more than a few yards without needing to use a GTN spray - would not?

[yaf_user681_25874]

Must admit I would agree it is unlikely to happen, but if we don't ask.....

That said I do feel the system should be overhauled so that the ""free"" prescriptions are those connected to the condition - surely this would be easier to administer as well, as certain drugs would be free and others not?

For anybody who is unable to work, exemptions etc could still be issued.

It just strikes me as unfair (as an example) that my brother and I both have long term medical conditions requiring medication but his thyroid condition entitles him to free prescriptions (for any meds) and my asthma doesn't....

So not only do I have to pay for prescriptions for asthma meds but if we were to both require antib's for an infection, his would be free but mine would not.

Ok so I have a PPC to save money on my regular scripts so there is no additional cost, but it is still unfair.

Kat

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i'm always curious to why asthma has never been considered as something that needs free prescriptions. i do purchase a pre pay certificate which does save me a fortune but what makes them define a long term condiion that deserves free prescriptions. many of us are on several medications, i need new inhalors once a fortnight. its a lot of mom=ney to spend and hopefully they will consider changing this sometime soon.

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Kat - I completely agree that it's unfair. The system certainly does need looking at, but I think it's more likely that they'll withdraw free prescriptions altogether rather than adding more conditions to the list that qualify. Either that, or they may consider limiting it to drugs for the conditions that qualify only, and not all meds, if you have a qualifying condition.

I've always maintained that either all prescriptions should be free, or NONE of them should be. One or the other of these is the only fair way.

laurenjayne - The list of qualifying conditions was complied in the 50s/60s and has never been updated since it was originally decided on! Since then there have been huge advances in which conditions can be successfully controlled by medication, making it hopelessly out-of-date and unfair.

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the 50's and 60's? that is totally crazy. i suppose it is a really difficult decision for them to make as how do the define what they can count as a 'free' medication. i don't ever see them funding all medications as free and i know when you look at the generic prices of these 6'35 is a bargain but it woud be good to know why we have to pay.