The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7387 p159
11 February 2006

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£3m recovered from prescription charge frauds 2001–05

Nearly £3m has been recovered from 160,000 civil prosecutions for wrongful free prescription claims up to 31 March last year.

In a Parliamentary written reply, Minister of State for Health Jane Kennedy revealed that £2,950,000 had been recovered. “Since August 2001 a penalty charge system has been in place in respect of those falsely claiming exemption to NHS pharmaceutical charges. This has resulted in a considerable increase in civil action being instigated for first time offenders with repeat offenders subsequently dealt with through criminal proceedings,” she said. “Penalties are sanctioned through the civil courts as criminal prosecution of offenders would not be a cost effective way of dealing with such high volume but low-value frauds.”