Ill health, Medication and retirement

[midnighter]

I am applying retiring from teaching due to ill health. A very quick question: IN order to qualify for full retirement I have to prove I can no longer work again. I take morphine, diazepam and other strong painkillers regularly. What is the law concerning working and taking these strong opiates and sedatives please?

[Sangie595]

Re: Ill health, Medication and retirement

There isn't any law. A lot of people continue working taking these medications. Ill-health retirement is based on whether you can work or not, not the medications you take.

[Tincan]

Re: Ill health, Medication and retirement

Curious so if these drugs cause an individual , to not function properly in their roll surely they should be considered for retiring for ill health reasons ? midnighter i am by no means qualified but if the drugs are impairing your ability to function " normally " within your work environment i would seek advice from your GP / Consulatant etc .... Many people do function well on a myriad of drugs , some don't everyone is an individual .

[Sangie595]

Re: Ill health, Medication and retirement

Curious so if these drugs cause an individual , to not function properly in their roll surely they should be considered for retiring for ill health reasons ? midnighter i am by no means qualified but if the drugs are impairing your ability to function " normally " within your work environment i would seek advice from your GP / Consulatant etc .... Many people do function well on a myriad of drugs , some don't everyone is an individual .

That's why I said that the decision is based on whether you can work or not. In some cases the impacts of medications might be that you can't, but in others that wouldn't be the case. For example, I have a medicine cabinet that a junkie would love to get their hands on. Several controlled drugs including morphine. And I can work fine. Someone else on the same medications maybe couldn't. But the test is the ability of the person to do their work (or, in some cases, depending on the scheme, it may be to do any work) - not what medications they are on or what is wrong with them.