£139 cost of ‘scary’ health-check letter

AN Oldham pensioner is warning others after she was targeted by an American company offering health screenings.

The woman first thought the letter, sent by Life Line screening, was from her doctor and was all set to attend a session in Stalybridge on August 22.

But she later discovered that the screenings — to spot early signs of heart disease, stroke and other conditions — would cost her £139, with the company expecting her to spend a further £10 for an osteoporosis test.

The woman (82) said: “I didn’t see the bit where it said that it would cost £139. I only realised that when I read a letter in a Sunday newspaper from a lady who had obviously received the same letter.

“In the reply, the doctor said that she should save her money because your GP can do all those tests for you.

The pensioner admitted the tone of the letter left her feeling alarmed.

She said: “It’s quite scary and it prays on your fears. It’s quite bad because these are things which old people tend to get anyway and it makes you even more concerned.”

A spokesperson for Life Line Screening said: “We are very sorry this letter caused distress as the last thing we want to do is scare people.

“All we do is state facts about very specific diseases for which we screen, ones which tend to be symptomless.

“Although you can have these tests done on the NHS, a GP would not tend to refer someone unless they were showing symptoms and the basis of many of these diseases is that they tend not to have symptoms.”