Harney refuses to rule out raising prescription charges

The bomb squad was called in today to carry out a controlled explosion on unstable chemicals found in a lab at the Royal College of Surgeons.

Health Minister Mary Harney has today refused to rule out a further price hike in medical prescriptions to help boost the economy.

A new levy, which came into force today, will see almost 1.5 million medical card holders paying 50c for each item dispensed on prescription.