Medications Post-Brexit

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

So, is he calling us STUPID?

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

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

This is a classic ploy of totalitarian populist regimes.

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

"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