Refused Hospital prescription under DPS

cassid

Hey,

himself was up at the chemist to get a gp prescription and a hospital prescription. The chemist refused to put the hospital prescription under the DPS ( not a high tech drug) so had to pay €144 plust the extra costs of the hospital prescription. This drug is something my son is going to be on for a long time and I am on drugs long term as well, which means will I have to keep paying over the €144 every month.

Does it mean that I then had to go to my gp to write a prescription for it to be covered under the DPS?

Thanks

Kurtosis

To my knowledge, there should be no administrative obstacle to processing a hospital prescription under the DPS. Some medicines however are not covered under the state drug schemes such as the DPS, this could possibly be a reason why this was charged for in addition to the 144.

craggle

Private hospital prescriptions can be put through on DPS same as private gp prescriptions as long as the drug on the prescription has a gms code. Most likely explanation is that the drug has no gms code so can't go through as DPS However, certain drugs are given a special code for the purposes of DPS even if they have no GMS code or may be covered under the LTI scheme. You don't say what the drug is but it might be worth contacting the HSE to see if this drug can be covered in an one of these ways

angeldelight

The most common hospital-prescribed drugs which arent allowed by the HSE under the DPS are the preparations used for clearing out the bowel before scopes.

angeldelight

angeldelight wrote: »

The most common hospital-prescribed drugs which arent allowed by the HSE under the DPS are the preparations used for clearing out the bowel before scopes.

Really can't get phosphate enemas?

locum-motion

I think AD was referring to KleanPrep, Moviprep & Picolax.

cassid

Thanks for the replies.

It's a prescription from Temple Street Francis Clinic and the consultant asked if we had a medical card and told him no, so he said you can put with family meds on the DPS. It was for fluoxetine.

The chemist never said it was not accepted under the scheme, just that hospital prescriptions are not covered by the DPS scheme.

locum-motion

locum-motion wrote: »

I think AD was referring to KleanPrep, Moviprep & Picolax.

Picolax is a dirty drug. Rots your teeth right out. Avoid long term.

suds1984

if an item is covered on DPS, then on the receipt they will be a five digit number- drug code- and the quantity dispensed listed. If it is not covered then instead of five digit code they is generally ***** instead of the numbers.

Kurtosis

Deleted User wrote: »

Picolax is a dirty drug. Rots your teeth right out. Avoid long term.

Really? Do you mean Protelos (strontium ranelate)?

cassid wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

It's a prescription from Temple Street Francis Clinic and the consultant asked if we had a medical card and told him no, so he said you can put with family meds on the DPS. It was for fluoxetine.

The chemist never said it was not accepted under the scheme, just that hospital prescriptions are not covered by the DPS scheme.

There should be a liquid form of fluoxetine covered on the DPS and as there's no issue having a hospital prescription dispensed under the scheme, it may be worth contacting the pharmacy to clarify why it was not covered and if this was an error.

Calibos

Why would prozac not be covered?

echo beach

cassid wrote: »

The chemist never said it was not accepted under the scheme, just that hospital prescriptions are not covered by the DPS scheme.

That is incorrect. It sounds like a genuine error caused by confusion over the differing rules for hospital prescriptions on GMS and DPS. Go back in tomorrow and ask to speak to the manager, they may not have been working on Saturday. I'm sure they'll be able to sort it out.

locum-motion

cassid wrote: »

... The chemist ... said ... that hospital prescriptions are not covered by the DPS scheme.

The chemist was wrong. The DPS covers all prescribed meds that have been assigned a 5-digit code by the PCRS (as someone else said). It matters not whether the prescriber is in private hospital, public hospital, GP, HSE out-patient clinic, psych services, whatever.

What is and is not covered under the various state schemes is very complicated, and a newly registered pharmacist might get confused. Go back and speak to the regular pharmacist. You will probably get a refund, and the pharmacist you spoke to already will get a lecture! And a lesson.

cassid

Thanks for all the advice.

Have to go into hospital for a while so will send himself up armed and dangerous.

x

penguin88

penguin88 wrote: »

Really? Do you mean Protelos (strontium ranelate)?



There should be a liquid form of fluoxetine covered on the DPS and as there's no issue having a hospital prescription dispensed under the scheme, it may be worth contacting the pharmacy to clarify why it was not covered and if this was an error.

No. I mean picolax. It contains additives to make it more palatable which rot your teeth. It's fine short term but they have started to use it off label for treating resistant constipation here in the UK.

Kurtosis

Deleted User wrote: »

No. I mean picolax. It contains additives to make it more palatable which rot your teeth. It's fine short term but they have started to use it off label for treating resistant constipation here in the UK.

Ok, I have not come across it being used long-term and couldn't find any studies/reports relating to this as an adverse effect. Sorry for going off-topic. Would you have a link to any evidence on this you could PM me?

sleepyheadh

Deleted User wrote: »

Picolax is a dirty drug. Rots your teeth right out. Avoid long term.

Not sure why anyone would be on Picolax long term? Never heard of it rotting teeth either?!

L1011

sleepyheadh wrote: »

Not sure why anyone would be on Picolax long term? Never heard of it rotting teeth either?!

Their later post mentions treatment resistant constipation as an off label (but possibly long term) issue. Dunno about the teeth - it still tasted vile the last time I had to suffer it so I didn't notice anything to make it more palatable then.

sleepyheadh

Still can't find anywhere that mentions anything about dental side effects, off-label or not!

Thephantomsmask

Patients under 16 are eligible to have medications for mental health issues paid for under the long term illness scheme. Might be worth checking if your son can apply as you said he would be on fluoxetine for a while.