A WOMAN who has had two liver transplants is fighting to have prescription charges for sufferers from her disease covered by the NHS.

Charlotte Worton, aged 19, of Ash Grove, Stourport, has auto-immune hepatitis and has to take three different sets of drugs every day.

The full-time student at the Stourport High School and VIth Form Centre has just turned 19 and is no longer eligible for free prescriptions. She said that she would probably qualify for a pre-payment prescription certificate and have to pay about £104 a year. She said that without the concession, the cost of one of her drugs alone – tacrolimus – would be £400 a month.

Miss Worton, who works part-time at the town’s Tesco store, has been featured in the press several times, including in 2006 when, as a thank you, she raised £4,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Liver Unit by climbing Mount Snowdon.

She said: “I am very angry about having to pay. It is ridiculous. These drugs keep me alive. Other long-term illnesses are exempt and I have heard that even heroin addicts (in a recent pilot scheme) have had their heroin free on the NHS. I want people to understand that this isn’t just about me but lots of people who are in a similar situation and need the drugs to survive.”

Her mother, Sandra Hudson, said: “Before Charlotte’s second transplant she was very ill. She used to be a size 14 and went down to a size eight. I get upset just thinking about it.”

Mrs Hudson, who owns The Sweet Jarshop in the town, said that her daughter had a biopsy two months ago and was fighting a rejection of her second transplant. She said: “She’s fighting and we are right behind her and if she’s having medication to keep her alive she should not have to pay for it.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “In England, 89 per cent of prescription items are dispensed for free. Yet prescription charges provide a valuable contribution to the NHS (in England), estimated to be £435 million for 2009-10.

“Help is available for people who have to pay the NHS prescription charge but need extensive or frequent prescriptions.

“Pre-payment certificates are worthwhile for anyone who needs more than four prescription items during a period of three months or more than 14 items during a period of 12 months. They entitle holders to obtain as many prescribed items as they need for £2 per week and the cost can be spread by direct debit.

“In April, cancer patients became eligible for free prescriptions. Decisions about the timescale for phasing in prescription charge exemption for people with long-term illnesses will be made after Professor Ian Gilmore has completed his review.”