Loss of medical cards may deter transplant patients returning to work

The chief executive of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) has warned that the loss of discretionary medical cards may deter transplant patients from returning to work.

Mark Murphy said the association had been inundated with calls from worried transplant recipients, many of whom had lost the card .

Speaking in advance of Organ Donor Awareness Week, which runs from March 29th- April 6th, Mr Murphy said GP-only medical cards were “a waste of time” for those who had undergone organ transplant operations, as they rarely get their prescriptions from family doctors.

He said people who needed immunosuppressants and anti- rejection drugs to survive were facing hardship. “Many of these people cannot afford to pay €144 a month on top of all the other austerity costs,” said the association chief.

He said he had heard reports that people were trying to stretch their medication over two months rather than one month, because of the costs.

False economy
Mr Murphy said changes in the medical card scheme would make people think twice about returning to work after having had a transplant, "so it is a false economy".

The Department of Health said the HSE had a system for providing medical cards in emergency situations for people with a serious medical condition in need of urgent or ongoing medical care that they could not afford.

Emergency medical cards were issued to named individuals , with a limited eligibility period of six months.

The 2012 HSE service plan projected 85,000 discretionary medical cards for that year. The figure dropped to 22,328 last year, while this year’s plan does not contain any such projection.

An estimated 3,000 people in Ireland have had life-saving transplants thanks to organ donation. There are more than 600 people awaiting heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants.

Last year was a record year with 294 organs transplanted – up from the previous record of 275 in 2011.

According to the Irish Kidney Association, the highlight achievement was the increase in lung transplants carried out in the Mater hospital, up from 14 in 2012 to 32 in 2013.

“This was the highest growth achieved anywhere in the world in a single year,” said Mr Murphy.