Richard Bruton
Question:1522. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if B12 injections for patients receiving cancer treatment are covered by the medical card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63485/21]
View answerWednesday, 19 January 2022
Questions (1522, 1523, 1554)
Seán Haughey
Question:1523. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Health if B12 injections will be covered by the medical card scheme in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63487/21]
View answerRichard Bruton
Question:1554. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if the medical card covers the administration of B12 injections which are prescribed by a consultant; and if general practitioners are entitled to charge a fee for this service. [63584/21]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1522, 1523 and 1554 together.
Under the terms of the current GMS contract, GPs are required to provide eligible patients with ''all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess." There is no provision under the GMS GP contract for persons who hold a medical card or GP visit card to be charged for medical services provided under the contract.
It is a matter for the treating GP to determine in the case of each individual patient what is proper and necessary care. In circumstances where a GP, in the exercise of his/her clinical judgement, determines that a particular treatment or service requested by a patient is not clinically necessary, but the patient still wishes to receive the treatment, it is at the GPs discretion as to whether he/she imposes a charge for providing the service/treatment in question.
Consultation fees charged by GPs outside the terms of the GMS contracts are a matter of private contract between the clinicians and their patients. My Department has no role in relation to such fees.
Vitamins and minerals do not generally need a prescription. However, there is a limited range of products that were historically available on the GMS reimbursement list. Injectable Vitamin B 12 is one such product on the reimbursement list and, subject to the statutory prescription charge, is available to medical card holders without charge where appropriate.