A pilot scheme that will see medical card holders treated for minor ailments at a pharmacy instead of a GP office is to be rolled out in March.

Two major organisations representing older people have welcomed the free GP visit card for those aged over 70.

A medical doctor has launched a High Court action against the HSE arising out of its plans to provide free GP services to children under six years of age.

An expert in addiction treatment has said many people with problem drinking are simply unaware of the medication options available to them.

Prescriptions for anxiety and depression drugs cost the State almost €40m in 2012, an Irish Examiner investigation has found.

Almost 2.3 million prescriptions were written for anxiety and depression drugs in 2012, enough to cover more than half the population.

The Government is considering using legislation to force price reductions for medicines in the face of resistance from big pharmaceutical firms.

Hundreds of doctors protested outside the Dáil yesterday over cutbacks that have closed general practices and forced newly qualified GPs to go abroad to work.

The Irish Medical Organisation has claimed legislation to facilitate free GP care for the under-sixes is “draconian” and “an attempt to unilaterally re-write the relationship between GPs and the HSE”.

Many parents of young motorists are asking questions about the death of their children after General Motors recalled models that were aimed at first-time drivers, write Jeff Green and Patrick Lee

More than 40% of GPs said they would not or were unlikely to participate in the proposed scheme to extend free GP care to children under six.

An organisation representing family doctors has warned that 150 general practices could shut down in the near future due to funding cutbacks by the HSE.

The HSE paid out almost €2.5m on drugs to counter ADHD last year, according to new figures.

Some family doctors owed money by the HSE for out-of-hours services are being paid substantially less than is their due, according to the National Association of General Practitioners.

German chancellor Angela Merkel has absolved herself of blame for the eurozone’s north-south split during the debt crisis, saying she has Europe’s best interests at heart when pressing the need to become globally competitive.

Highlighting the reduction of the influenza vaccine payments to €15 for GPs does not consider the big picture in general-practice payments (Irish Examiner July, 15).

The Competition Authority has launched legal action against the Irish Medical Organisation on foot of its refusal to reverse a decision to withdraw certain GP patient services in response to proposed cuts to fees.

Up to 16,000 medical card holders who have coeliac disease will no longer be able to use their cards to buy gluten-free products — a change in policy that could add up to €80 a month to a person’s grocery bill.

The HSE has warned GPs not to charge hard-pressed medical card patients for blood tests.

A NORTH DUBLIN GP clinic is being paid over three quarters of a million euro a year by the state to treat patients who cannot afford their own costs.

IRELAND is in danger of creating a “health poverty trap” after it emerged over 200,000 more people have become eligible for medical and GP visit only cards since January 2010.

SERIOUS restrictions on the number of GPs who can access the lucrative medical card patient treatment bracket are to be removed “as a priority” under legislation called for by the EU/IMF deal.

ALL family doctors will be able to treat medical card patients shortly once the Government fulfils a commitment to abolish all restrictions on entry into the general medical card scheme (GMS).

MORE medical card patients will be charged for routine blood tests as an increasing number of GPs struggle to keep their clinics open, the Irish Medical Organisation has warned.

THE Irish Pharmacy Union has said the Government is “entrenching outdated patterns of primary care delivery” by cutting payments to pharmacists in order to make annual savings of €36 million.

PATIENTS face increased charges for private beds in public hospitals and a likely hike in private health insurance premiums as a result of measures contained in the national recovery plan.

DRASTIC health system changes to prevent existing GPs from blocking new doctors working in their area are set significantly to improve patients’ access to primary care services.

PATIENTS taking potent anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills could have their details subtly shared among health professionals in a bid to tackle the abuse of addictive prescription drugs.

A CHARGE on all medical card prescriptions is being considered for the first time, in a bid to subsidise the health budget and stop doctors putting people on too much medication.

THE Department of Health suspected as long as 18 years ago that pharmacists were defrauding the General Medical Services Payments Board of almost €14 million a year in claims for discounted medicine prices, it was reported in a High Court judgment yesterday.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has been accused of losing sight of difficulties facing patients amid claims medical card holders are experiencing frustrating delays for dental treatment.

YOU are to be commended for your coverage of our Prozac Nation (Irish Examiner, March 28).

SHOW Jumping Association of Ireland (SJAI) chairperson Patricia Furlong yesterday described the association’s decision to relinquish control of all international teams to the Equestrian Federation of Ireland (EFI) as a positive development for the sport at grassroots level.

TÁNAISTE Mary Harney has ruled out making acupuncture and other alternative therapies available on the medical card.

AS many as 325 family doctors and 55 pharmacists earned €240,001 or more under General Medical Services (GMS) Schemes last year.

Jim Morahan

Evelyn Ring

Claire O’Sullivan

An Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) committee tonight decided to recommend proposals to its members that would allow the introduction of “doctor only” medical cards and settle a number of industrial disputes.

UP to €100 million will be saved on Government medical costs annually following a decision to allow pharmacists prescribe cheaper over-the-counter drugs to medical card holders.

OFFICIALS from the Department of Health are to meet with doctors’ leaders after GPs indicated that they may not co-operate with the introduction of doctor-only medical cards.

THE Department of Health was unable to say yesterday when it will publish a report examining the huge costs of extending the medical card to everybody over 70.

PLANS for a new “doctor visit” medical card have been welcomed by patients’ representatives and GPs, but criticised by the opposition as having “limited benefit”.

TRANSPARENCY. Accountability. They’re cliches now, aren’t they? They are used so often in commentary about current events that they have almost lost their meaning.