Lord Winstanleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the answer given by Lord Skelmersdale to Baroness Lane-Fox to the effect that "insulin-dependent diabetics … are exempt from prescription charges" (23rd March, col. 179) was intended to indicate that diabetic patients not currently in receipt of insulin therapy are not exempt from prescription charges.
1056WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Skelmersdale)People who suffer from diabetes mellitus or diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypoadrenalism for which specific substitution therapy is essential (this may be insulin or an oral hypoglycaemic agent) are entitled to exemption from NHS prescription charges. Diabetics for whom specific substitution therapy is not essential—that is, those treated by diet alone—are not entitled to free NHS prescriptions unless they qualify for exemption on other grounds.