There has been a sharp rise in the number of fines for claiming false prescriptions.
Receiving information back from a Freedom of Information request, an investigation from LSJ news was carried out by student journalists.
This revealed that the amount of fines handed out has risen by 460 per cent between September 2014 and September 2015,with 80 fines in September 2014, rising to 368 twelve months later. The biggest rise was in January last year with around 5 hundred and 50 fines being issued. These fines can total up to a hundred pounds, with an additional penalty if payment is late.
It was found that there was 2972 fines for the false claim of prescriptions in the county of Lincolnshire between 2014/15 in total.
Currently people under 19, people over 60, pregnant women and individuals with on-going medical conditions are eligible for free prescriptions.
Despite this sharp rise in the county of Lincolnshire, it remains the lowest number when taking into account other regions. Around 5 thousand were issued in Northamptonshire, and just under 8 thousand in Nottinghamshire.
