Medications Post-Brexit

"The Britain of 2019 is unrecognisable from the country of four years ago. A Brexit that in 2015 meant a Norway-style single market has come to entail our total rupture with every EU instrument, body and law, at any political, economic and human cost.

Since the referendum, the Brexiters have refused all compromise. The hardline fringes have hijacked a slim mandate and reinterpreted it in the most extreme way available to them. No deal is the all-or-nothing corruption of a democratic vote, and revocation is its democratic answer.

Like every other outcome, it will provoke a sustained political crisis. But in the end it may be the only way to save the economy – and people’s lives."

Jonathan Lis, writing in The Observor

This is a classic ploy of totalitarian populist regimes.

Supress the truth and flood the unsuspecting populace with carefully crfated fake news.

No, Mr (UN)Cleverly- we would understand, in fact, we DO! Only too well

So, is he calling us STUPID?

'No-deal Brexit: Minister James Cleverly refuses to publish full details as public would ‘misunderstand’'

So sorry to hear this MawB - it must have been very very hard.

But putting our head in the sand now is truly the wrong thing to do, hope you agree.

And yes, I selfishly am pleased that I will be able to get my grandson's epipen here if needed, and take them over on regular basis, on way or another.

I remember the panics over supply problems for Paw’s essential, in the case of his immunosuppressants, life-saving drugs when he was alive.
We always tried to have at least 2 weeks’ worth in a drawer with the Dr’s agreement as some of the drugs were not easy to source. When the distribution system let us down as it sometimes did, it was terrifying.
I could almost be relieved he is no longer here to face that further threat post- Brexit.

No Deal means not being part of Euratom- so not automatic availability. Medical radioisotopes are elements used to diagnose or treat a broad range of conditions. These include many cancers, endocrine and neurological diseases, palliative treatments and cardiovascular imaging. Approximately one million UK patients each year rely on radioisotope procedures. The UK is not self-sufficient in these materials, importing around 80% of the medical radioisotopes we use. Most of these come from the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

Unlike many medicines, radioactive isotopes cannot be stockpiled. As soon as they are produced they begin to decay. The longer the delay, the smaller the dose of useful isotope that remains.

And with Isotopes, it is a totally different story again.

I don't think it is as simple as getting your meds in advance. GPs are strict about only allowing you what you need when you need it. Having said that my GP did give me something I hadn't asked for!

Yellowhammer was up to date at the beginning of August. I don't believe the government has come up with appropriate answers since then.

The biggest worry is drugs that cannot be stored as they have a short, controlled shelf life.

Don't need to search to remember very clearly being told I was scare mongering, cruel and totally insensitive- to first mention that there is a strong possibility that life saving medicines and cancer treating isotopes will be in short or non supply if No Deal Brexit.

If Gnet had a better search facility it would be interesting to go back three years or so to see just what Leavers were saying about the future of the UK out of the EU.

Some interesting views here. I've read the NHS statements of course, which on the face of it sound reassuring, but then have also read that those medications that are earmarked for pre-Brexit stockpiling won't be made public. So how do I know whether our meds are in the alleged 'safe' list, or whether we may need to look at alternatives?

My medication is expensive, but wouldn't threaten my life if I stopped taking it, So besides not knowing whether my meds are 'stockpiled' or not, I have another concern that if we leave with no deal, then the NHS may decide not to continue to fund the majority of the cost, forcing me to pay privately.

Does anyone remember this thread from last year explaining the Overton Window political theory?

www.gransnet.com/forums/news_and_politics/1250287-The-Overton-Window?

Just try comparing the current preparations for war-time deprivations to the "sunlit uplands" promises of the leave liars three years ago. The unthinkable now seems to have become acceptable to most of the people who voted leave.

The ‘Overton window’ is a term from political science meaning the acceptable range of political thought in a culture at a given moment. It was the creation of Joseph Overton, a think-tank intellectual based in Michigan, who died in 2003 at 43 after a solo plane accident. His crucial insight, one which both emerged from and was central to the work of the think tank Right, was that the window of acceptability can be moved. An idea can start far outside the political mainstream – flat taxes, abolish the IRS, more guns in schools, building a beautiful wall and making Mexico pay – but once it has been stated and argued for, framed and restated, it becomes thinkable. It crosses over from the fringe of right-wing think-tankery to journalistic fellow-travellers; then it crosses over to the fringe of electoral politics; then it becomes a thing people start seriously advocating as a possible policy. The window has moved, and rough beasts come slouching through it to be born.

British politics has never seen a purer example of the Overton window than the referendum on membership of the EU.

www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n15/john-lanchester/brexit-blues

I m a lucky person who takes no meds but I really really feel for those that do as I think there may well be problems
Both my best friends rely on prescriptions quite heavily
I think it so dismissive to say it is fear mongering and as I ve heard said ‘we managed in the war etc etc’ We are not prepared and I m still praying the dreadful Brexit won’t happen

There ARE reasons, B9exchange. The government has "gagged" parts of the NHs and some pharma companies, so it's impossible to get at the truth. It's all to do with money. Some pharma companies have stopped production, because their meds are no longer profitable. Some aren't selling to the NHS because they can get more money elsewhere and Brexit is causing uncertainty for the market. Pharma companies won't sell long-term if they think their income could be disrupted. Trump is now saying that any US/UK deal would include trying to get the NHS to pay more for American drugs, which could mean that the NHS decides to stop buying them.

Good for you, Mincub, but I'm already living on savings and have already sold everything of any value. I seriously don't have any "spare" money. I don't have the choice to buy privately and the CCG rules mean I can't stockpile.

The shortage of certain drugs has been a problem for years, this year it seems worse, and no particular reason unless the drug companies are stockpiling. The Elleste HRT shortage seems to have eased, but the latest is no IV food packs for those who cannot eat normally, there are people really suffering, but no sign of relief for them.

I understand where you’re coming from ...I’m a waspi too although I seem to have lost a bit of my sting!
I have managed to do so by using savings and selling things I don’t need. I am damn well determined to get my pension and getting meds I depend on is the only way.
My mother worked hard all her life, paid horrendous tax and died at 51...I’m not going down that road. Too many Fat cats and that’s an insult to a poor animal but not enough of an insult for those who run sorry ruin our lives.
Awake, arise or be forever fallen!

I have 10 prescription meds, having already cut down on some I felt weren't doing me any good. I just can't afford to buy any meds privately, so I can't make alternative arrangements.

PS. I'm a WASPI woman who's coping, but only just about. My GP has suggested treatments which aren't available on the NHS (or the waiting list is incredibly long) and I can't afford those either. I put up with it, but paying for medications is beyond my budget.

I’ve already had problems with my meds - I’m on 28 prescriptive drugs per month and got a message from my surgery that they couldn’t t get hold of one important one so would I just like to try elsewhere. I did and it had simply been stopped in manufacture.I was told to wait a couple of months and see if manufacture restarted. Fortunately it did but it had left me two months of real suffering with no meds and no alternative.
So I have decided to make my own arrangements and get my most dependant meds’ from elsewhere and hopefully will have enough to get me through any transition period. It’s not cheap but it works. You, have to take control because those who are in control ....aren’t.

Esspee The reason that the millenium bug didn't happen is because thousands of computer people the world over were engaged in ensuring that it didn't.

I haven’t read the “leaked yellow hammer report” but I have managed to read the Gibraltar Governments response in which it states that it is old and things have moved on.

In all honesty I am struggling to find truth/trust in any report/statements issued.

I can see no resolution to the current situation.

The government's own "Yellowhammer Report" (published in today's Sunday Times) predicts disruption to medical supplies. That's not Project Fear - it's what the government actually knows will happen.

But who trusts the government to get anything right? Maybe the whole country will be sprinkled with fairy dust by all those unicorns! And watch out for flying pigs!

Oh yes I see. Thank you

WWMK2 just trying to point out that the supply chain for medications is “fragile”.