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Patients cut back on drugs to save on prescription fees as cost of living crisis bites

BMJ 2022; 378 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o2363 (Published 30 September 2022) Cite this as: BMJ 2022;378:o2363
  1. Gareth Iacobucci
  1. The BMJ

Patients are rationing their use of vital medicines to save on prescription charges in response to the cost of living crisis, a survey has indicated.

A poll by the charity Asthma + Lung UK found that almost a sixth of people with asthma (523 of 3471) were cutting back on using their inhaler to make it last longer. Some 6% (196) said they had not been getting their prescriptions, one in 10 (356) said they were rationing use of medical devices that required electricity, such as nebulisers, and 5% (165) said they had shared medicines, such as by getting an inhaler from someone who didn’t have to …

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