Latest news with #DrugsPaymentScheme
BreakingNews.ie
4 days ago
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Post-pandemic surge in prescriptions for ADHD meds costs €30 million
The number of people receiving medication for ADHD under free or subsidised drug schemes has surged by 150% since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, costing more than €30 million in the past five years A total of 25,715 patients were prescribed medication for the neurodevelopmental disorder on the medical card or other public health schemes last year, compared to 10,327 in 2020. Advertisement The annual cost of the medication, which is most often a stimulant called methylphenidate, also more than doubled during that period, rising from €4.1 million in 2020 to €9.3 million last year. Last year, 11,357 patients were prescribed drugs for ADHD on the medical card, while 12,105 patients who were medicated for the disorder received reimbursements under the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS). A further 2,253 people received medication for ADHD under the Long-Term Illness (LTI) scheme. Galway was the Local Health Office (LHO) area with the highest number of patients who were prescribed ADHD drugs under the medical card scheme last year, with 833. This was followed by Laois-Offaly, where 557 medical-card holders received the medication. Advertisement The LHO area with the highest number of patients who received reimbursements for ADHD medication under the DPS in 2024 was Dublin South East, with 1,261, followed by Dun Laoghaire with 818. Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Huddersfield and Aston University attributed a reported rise in ADHD diagnoses since the pandemic to increased awareness of the disorder via social media. They also said there was a 'strong association' between the impact of the pandemic and the worsening of ADHD symptoms, which include inattention, hyperactivity, and emotional dysregulation. Drugs used to treat the disorder include methylphenidate, which is better known by the brand names Ritalin, Concerta and Delmosart, as well as two other stimulants: dexamfetamine and lisdexamfetamine. Advertisement In April, Government Chief Whip Mary Butler, the minister of state with responsibility for mental health, suggested that a surge in young children with ADHD was driving waiting lists for CAMHS. Ireland Irish people left 'high and dry' in cost of living... Read More Records released under freedom of information laws show that the number of patients prescribed medication for ADHD on the medical card scheme has increased by 69 per cent since 2020. The number of people prescribed ADHD on the DPS increased by 655 per cent from 1,604 to 12,105 during the same period, while the number of patients receiving ADHD drugs on the LTI scheme increased by 12 per cent. The LHO area with the lowest number of patients prescribed medication for ADHD under the medical card scheme last year was West Cork, with 79. It was also the lowest LHO area under the LTI scheme, with seven. A total of 80 patients on the DPS were prescribed ADHD drugs in Roscommon in 2024, according to the records released by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Number of people getting free or subsidised ADHD medication more than doubles in five years
The number of people receiving medication for ADHD under free or subsidised drug schemes has surged by 150% since the beginning of the covid pandemic, costing more than €30m in the past five years. A total of 25,715 patients were prescribed medication for the neurodevelopmental disorder on the medical card or other public health schemes last year, compared to 10,327 in 2020. The annual cost of the medication, which is most often a stimulant called methylphenidate, also more than doubled during that period, rising from €4.1m in 2020 to €9.3m last year. Last year, 11,357 patients were prescribed drugs for ADHD on the medical card, while 12,105 patients who were medicated for the disorder received reimbursements under the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS). A further 2,253 people received medication for ADHD under the Long-Term Illness (LTI) scheme. Galway was the Local Health Office (LHO) area with the highest number of patients who were prescribed ADHD drugs under the medical card scheme last year, with 833. This was followed by Laois-Offaly, where 557 medical card holders received the medication. The LHO area with the highest number of patients who received reimbursements for ADHD medication under the DPS in 2024 was Dublin South East, with 1,261, followed by Dun Laoghaire with 818. Researchers said there was a 'strong association' between the impact of the pandemic and the worsening of ADHD symptoms, which include inattention, hyperactivity, and emotional dysregulation. Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Huddersfield and Aston University attributed a reported rise in ADHD diagnoses since the pandemic to increased awareness of the disorder via social media. They also said there was a 'strong association' between the impact of the pandemic and the worsening of ADHD symptoms, which include inattention, hyperactivity, and emotional dysregulation. Drugs used to treat the disorder include methylphenidate, which is better known by the brand names Ritalin, Concerta and Delmosart, as well as two other stimulants: dexamfetamine and lisdexamfetamine. In April, Government Chief Whip Mary Butler, the minister of state with responsibility for mental health, suggested that a surge in young children with ADHD was driving waiting lists for Camhs. Records released under freedom of information show that the number of patients prescribed medication for ADHD on the medical card scheme has increased by 69% since 2020. The number of people prescribed ADHD on the DPS increased by 655% from 1,604 to 12,105 during the same period, while the number of patients receiving ADHD drugs on the LTI scheme increased by 12%. The LHO area with the lowest number of patients prescribed medication for ADHD under the medical card scheme last year was West Cork, with 79. It was also the lowest LHO area under the LTI scheme, with seven. A total of 80 patients on the DPS were prescribed ADHD drugs in Roscommon in 2024, according to the records released by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Weight-loss injections could be made cheaper by end of the year, Minister says
Some drugs used for weight loss could be free or have their cost capped as early this year, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has confirmed. She also vowed a crackdown on vapes and to 'eradicate' tobacco pouches. Weight loss jab Mounjaro, which is also used to treat type two diabetics, became available in the UK this week under the NHS. In response to questions on whether Ireland would support the free rollout of the drug for Irish weight-loss patients, Minister Carroll MacNeill confirmed that it would be available through the HSE's reimbursement schemes as soon as the last quarter of 2025. Saxenda, another injection that can be used for weight loss, has been on the scheme since January 2023. This includes the Medical Card Scheme, where patients receive their prescription for free and the Drugs Payment Scheme, where the cost of prescriptions are capped at €80 per month. Ms Carroll MacNeill said: 'Saxenda is available under the reimbursement scheme already. 'Mountjaro is going through the reimbursement process so I'd expect an outcome of that maybe quarter four of this year, quarter one of next year. 'But it's already the case that one of those drugs is available under the reimbursement scheme and therefore is available to medical card patients.' Ms Carroll MacNeill, who was speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco Control, also vowed that Ireland will crack down on coloured and flavoured vapes and attempt to 'eradicate' tobacco pouches. Despite Cabinet approving plans in September 2024 to ban disposable vapes and flavours, there is still no date for the implementation of the plans. However, the Fine Gael Minister for Dun Laoghaire said that the Government will prioritise the new rule as part of Ireland's EU Presidency from July 2026. She said: 'The nicotine companies find different ways of trying to - now that the tobacco has been so stamped down - get children addicted to nicotine. 'Why there needs to be, like a coconut pineapple flavour [vape] is absolutely beyond me. Why it needs to match a young girl's handbag or any of those different attractive things to socialise and normalise what is essentially an addiction to a drug. 'The nicotine pouches are particularly invidious and have the capacity to get very high doses of nicotine to children in very subtle ways, but very, very quickly. We're working to try to eradicate them. 'We're trying to reopen the tobacco directive and have a focus of that as our of our EU presidency to reopen the tobacco directive to recognise that actually the world has moved on since that was agreed, that it's not just about tobacco, it's about the other nicotine projects. 'The Taoiseach will be helping me to make sure that that's a priority for Ireland for the presidency. 'One of the issues there is where one country takes lots of steps to ban different products. It comes so easily across the border from another EU member states that we have to take a harmonised approach on it from a public health perspective.' Elsewhere, Minister Carroll MacNeill defended naming the new National Children's Hospital 'The National Children's Hospital'. She said it followed 'engagement with the youth advisory groups, with parents, with patients, and that is the name that they chose'. She confirmed that there was a 'pretty nominal' cost to coming up with the name but could not confirm what it was. The Irish Mirror submitted queries to the Department of Health on the cost.
Irish Examiner
07-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Call for publicly funded medication for breast cancer survivors who cannot take HRT
Breast cancer survivors who cannot take HRT should have some post-cancer medicines funded instead as they are 'invisible' in the menopause debate, one Cork survivor has urged. Some cancer treatments can push women of any age into medical menopause. Symptoms are usually harsher and longer lasting than for natural menopause, according to the HSE. Marguerite Herlihy was just 40 when she was diagnosed last year. She praised Cork University Hospital for her successful initial treatment. However she has oestrogen-positive cancer meaning it can be stimulated by hormones. This is why taking HRT is ruled out. 'You gear yourself up for the chemo and you gear yourself up for the radiotherapy and all of that, but there is no such thing as being finished then,' she said. 'The hormone-blockers I am now taking are part of the cancer treatment. In fact my oncologist told me the hormone-blockers are probably more important for me and more effective than the chemo.' The blockers prevent oestrogen from bringing back cancer for the mother of three. She said: But I went into menopause immediately like I fell off a cliff. 'So I've another 12 years of a lack of oestrogen (before my natural menopause starts).' She stressed: 'I'm so happy for other women to get free HRT lately, but while women are getting that I am paying the €80 a month to block my oestrogen under the Drugs Payment Scheme. 'So over the next 10 years that is going to mount up, it will be thousands I could invest in my kids. I do think with the HRT we're invisible in the debate about free HRT.' Ms Herlihy, a secondary-school teacher who lives in Aherla, said: 'I would love for the Government to offset the €80 a month for me like they are doing for the women getting HRT.' She feels health services generally are good, but said: 'Going forward I am paying to block my oestrogen when the government are paying to give women extra free oestrogen.' She was also 'devastated' to miss out on an international clinical trial for an advanced breast cancer drug. 'It was like a shining beacon for me,' she said. 'I missed out on it by a couple of weeks because cancer trials are too slow coming in Ireland. I missed out because of the red-tape, the legal work or the GDPR was taking too long to navigate. I was on my hormone blockers for too long by the time they were ready.' Marguerite Herlihy: 'I'm so happy for other women to get free HRT lately, but while women are getting that I am paying the €80 a month to block my oestrogen under the Drugs Payment Scheme.' Picture: Dan Linehan About 3,600 women in Ireland are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. The Irish Cancer Society said figures are not available for how many are affected by medical menopause. 'This affects a large amount of our patients,' a spokeswoman said. 'I think that the unmet need speaks for itself, given that we have no statistics as to how many women this can affect.' The society has published a free booklet with University College Cork containing targeted advice on nutrition for women in Ms Herlihy's position. She described food as a minefield with many things to avoid, saying: 'This is probably the first book that specifies anything for us.'
Irish Independent
05-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Meath leads with 94pc pharmacy uptake in free HRT scheme for women
A total of 59 pharmacies across the county — a 94pc uptake — are now offering the medication at no cost, making Meath one of the top counties in terms of participation in the initiative aimed at supporting women during perimenopause and menopause. The scheme, which provides free HRT once prescribed by a GP or consultant, is being welcomed by Meath Senator Linda Nelson Murray. The Fine Gael Senator described the free medications as 'good news for those who choose to use it.' She said: "As someone who takes HRT myself, it is so important for women to have access to them for free.' 'We have 94pc of pharmacies in County Meath signed up, that's great because I know how much help HRT gives. As women, we haven't been able to talk about things like this….there's a lot of things women go through and don't speak about; like periods and menopause, and the difficulties women face with those two particular things.' Ms Nelson Murray said that without the scheme, the medications could cost €30 to €60 depending on what HRT people are on. She added: 'The free HRT is good news for those who choose to use it. Plenty of people don't and that's completely okay.' 'Maybe 10 years ago, women didn't talk about it; unfortunately a lot of women were suffering in silence. Now we don't have to.' Under the new scheme, women must be registered with the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) to qualify. Registration can be completed online. Medical card holders can continue to access HRT medication without needing a DPS card. Women in Meath seeking to find their nearest participating pharmacy can use the HSE's online pharmacy finder tool. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
