What an online consultation with a prescription costs
There are always two costs and never one. The first is the fee for the medical assessment, paid to the service that carries it out. The second is the price of the medicine, paid separately at the pharmacy counter, and it has nothing to do with the first. Most confusion about the cost of an online prescription comes from people quoting one figure and meaning the other. This page separates them, explains what our fee does and does not cover, sets out the HSE schemes that affect what you pay at the pharmacy, and states plainly when the fee is refunded and when it is not.
Two costs, kept separate
The assessment fee pays for a doctor to read your history and decide whether treatment is appropriate. It is a fee for a medical service, and it is earned whether or not the decision goes your way. The medicine price pays for the product itself, is set by the pharmacy, and is paid at the counter.
That separation is not a technicality. A service that folded both into one price would be selling you a medicine and pricing an outcome, which is not how prescribing works and not what any doctor can offer. If a website quotes a single all-in figure for a prescription-only medicine, ask which part is the assessment and which part is the product, and be wary if the answer is unclear.
So the working sum is: assessment fee, plus whatever the pharmacy charges for the item, less whatever a HSE scheme covers if one applies to you.
What the MEDINOW fee covers
MEDINOW charges 19.90 euro for a repeat prescription assessment and 29.90 euro for a weight management assessment. The fee covers the medical assessment: the doctor reads your questionnaire and the documentation you attach, applies the product information and his clinical judgement, and reaches a decision.
It does not cover the issuing of a document. This distinction is the one most people skip and the one that decides refunds. A doctor who reads your case carefully and concludes that treatment should not continue has done the work you paid for. An assessment with a negative outcome is a completed medical service, not a failed transaction.
The fee also does not cover the medicine, delivery of any medicine, or ongoing care. We do not dispense and we do not post medicines. What you receive is a prescription document by e-mail, which you take to a pharmacy.
When the fee is refunded and when it is not
The position is set out in section 5 of our terms and it has two limbs. If the doctor declines the request on medical grounds, the fee is refunded. That covers the situations where the honest answer is no: the treatment is not appropriate, the medicine is one we do not issue, a contraindication is present, or the request needs an examination we cannot carry out.
If the doctor asks for documentation, such as a recent blood result, a copy of a previous prescription or a clearer photograph of a pharmacy label, and it is not supplied, the assessment counts as carried out and the fee is not refunded. The consultation happened; what is missing is your part of it.
We do not offer an unconditional refund and we will not describe one, because we could not honour it. Any service in this field promising your money back regardless of outcome is either not reading the cases properly or not intending to keep the promise.
What the medicine costs at the pharmacy
The pharmacy sets the retail price of the product, and prices differ between pharmacies for the same item, so ringing two is a reasonable thing to do for anything expensive. Generic versions of a medicine are usually substantially cheaper than the originator brand, and because a cross-border prescription identifies the medicine by its active substance, the pharmacist can supply the equivalent product marketed here.
For long-term treatment, the medicine cost is the recurring one and the assessment fee is occasional, so it is the medicine price that dominates the annual figure. For weight management medicines in particular, expect a substantial monthly outlay and ask the pharmacy for the current price of the specific pen and strength before you commit to starting.
A dispensing fee may apply depending on the pharmacy and the scheme in use. Ask what the total at the counter will be rather than the price of the box.
Medical card, GP visit card and the Drugs Payment Scheme
Three HSE arrangements affect what people in Ireland pay for medicines, and each has its own eligibility rules published by the HSE. A medical card provides for approved prescribed items with a prescription charge per item, subject to a monthly cap. A GP visit card covers GP visits but not the cost of medicines. The Drugs Payment Scheme caps what an individual or family pays in a calendar month for approved prescribed medicines, with the threshold set by the HSE.
Two cautions. First, the schemes cover approved products for approved purposes, and treatment prescribed for weight management generally sits outside them. Second, whether a prescription written outside Ireland can be processed under a given scheme is a question for the HSE and the pharmacy, and it is not settled by EU recognition of the prescription.
Check the current thresholds and rules on the HSE website rather than relying on a figure quoted anywhere else, including here. These numbers change.
Why an assessment without a prescription is still a service
It helps to compare this to any other medical appointment. You pay a GP for the appointment, not for a specific outcome, and nobody expects a refund because the doctor concluded that antibiotics were not needed. A remote assessment works the same way: the value is in a qualified person reading your case and telling you the truth about it.
The alternative model, where payment is contingent on getting the prescription, creates exactly the incentive you do not want in a prescriber. It rewards saying yes. That is the mechanism behind every service that has ever been criticised for handing out medicines after a token questionnaire.
So the fee structure is not a commercial detail. It is the reason the doctor can decline without it costing him anything, which is the same reason his yes is worth having.
What to compare when you compare prices
Compare like with like. An Irish online GP appointment is a different product from a written cross-border assessment: it can examine you by video, it can act as continuing primary care, and it costs accordingly. A written assessment for continuation of stable treatment is narrower and cheaper, and it is not a substitute for the first when a new problem needs looking at.
Ask four questions of any service. Who is the doctor and where is he registered. What exactly does the fee cover. What happens to the fee if the request is declined. And what arrives at the end: a document you take to a pharmacy, or a promise about a medicine arriving in the post.
That last one matters. A service that offers to send you a prescription-only medicine after an online form, without a pharmacy in the chain, is outside the regulated supply route the HPRA polices, and price is the least of the problems with it.
The whole cost, in order
For a typical repeat of stable treatment through MEDINOW: 19.90 euro for the assessment, then the pharmacy price of the item, less any HSE scheme that applies to you. For a weight management request: 29.90 euro for the assessment, then a monthly private cost for the medicine that you should confirm with a pharmacy before starting, because these products are usually not reimbursed for that purpose.
No delivery charge, because nothing is delivered except an e-mail. No subscription, no membership and no charge for asking a follow-up question about a prescription already issued.
And one line worth repeating: the fee covers the medical assessment, not the issuing of a document. Refunded if the doctor declines on medical grounds; not refunded where requested documentation is not supplied.
Do I pay again if the doctor asks for more information?
No. Supplying the documentation the doctor asked for is part of the assessment you have already paid for, not a new one, and there is no additional charge for it. What you should not do is ignore the request and start again later, because an assessment where requested documentation was never supplied counts as carried out and the fee is not refunded. If you cannot obtain what was asked for, say so in reply; sometimes an alternative record answers the same clinical question.
Can I use my medical card or the Drugs Payment Scheme with a prescription from a doctor in another EU country?
That is a question for the HSE and for the pharmacy, and it is separate from whether the prescription can be dispensed. EU law settles recognition of the prescription; it does not settle reimbursement, which runs on national rules about eligible people, eligible products and eligible prescriptions. Ask your pharmacy before you rely on it, and check the current scheme rules on the HSE website. The safe planning assumption is that you may be paying the retail price at the counter.
Why is the weight management assessment more expensive?
Because it is a longer piece of clinical work. A weight management request involves entry criteria based on body mass index and weight-related conditions, a contraindication list that has to be worked through carefully, a decision about which licensed product and which starting step, and a plan for what happens at the next dose step. A repeat of stable treatment is a narrower question. The 29.90 euro fee reflects that, and like the repeat fee it covers the assessment rather than the issuing of a document.
Is there a cheaper way to do this?
Often, yes, and it is worth saying so. If you have a medical card, your GP practice is the cheaper route for a repeat and holds your full record besides. If you have a GP you see regularly, a repeat request through the practice usually costs less than any private assessment. Remote assessment is worth paying for when the alternative is a gap in treatment, when you are away from your usual practice, or when the appointment you need is weeks off and the medicine is running out.
Do you charge a delivery fee?
No, because nothing is physically delivered. Where a prescription is issued it is a PDF sent by e-mail, built to the annex of Implementing Directive 2012/52/EU, which you print or show at any pharmacy along with photo identification. We do not dispense medicines, we do not post medicines, and we do not work with a particular pharmacy. Any service in this field that offers to post you a prescription-only medicine after an online form is operating outside the regulated supply chain.