Costs of thyroid meds

[monkey65]

Was just looking on the British National Formulary site to see how much my monthly meds cost the NHS (£403!) and was astounded to see that 28 x 100mcg levothyroxine is £1.76 and 28 x liothyronine 20mcg is £102.30.

[nightingale-56]

I am sure more competition would give better prices!

[Hidden]

Hi how do you view prices of meds? I have tried but do you have to register or anything?

[monkey65 in reply to Hidden]

I don't know how I got to the pages - I did a general google search and once I was in the BNF site I seemed to be able to get to them. Tried once before and was asked to register!

[Hidden in reply to monkey65]

Thanks , x

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to monkey65]

You can get to the BNF by going here:

bnf.org/

To access from there you do need to register and sign-in.

You can get to the same information without signing up or logging in by going here:

evidence.nhs.uk/formulary/b...

It appears that a version better suited to mobile phones is going to be available soon.

Levothyroxine (Non-proprietary) Prescription only medicine

Tablets, levothyroxine sodium 25 micrograms, net price 28-tab pack = £2.58; 50 micrograms, 28-tab pack = £1.76; 100 micrograms, 28-tab pack = £1.76

Brands include Eltroxin®

Oral solution, levothyroxine sodium 25 micrograms/5 mL, net price 100 mL = £52.83; 50 micrograms/5 mL, 100 mL = £58.80; 100 micrograms/5 mL, 100 mL = £84.72

AND

Liothyronine sodium (Non-proprietary) Prescription only medicine

Tablets, scored, liothyronine sodium 20 micrograms, net price 28-tab pack = £102.30

Important

Patients switched to a different brand should be monitored (particularly if pregnant or if heart disease present) as brands without a UK licence may not be bioequivalent and dose adjustment may be necessary; pregnant women or those with heart disease should undergo an early review of thyroid status, and other patients should have thyroid function assessed if experiencing a significant change in symptoms. If liothyronine is continued long-term, thyroid function tests should be repeated 1–2 months after any change in brand.

Interesting that they witter on about change of brand when there is only one UK-licensed product. And that they suggest that the brand Eltroxin actually still exists!

Rod

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to helvella]

Meant to say - anyone accessing these sites from outwith the United Kingdom, or appearing to be so, might find that they are blocked. Also no idea what effect a Yes vote in Scotland might have in time on content and access.

Rod

[Marz]

It must be made of gold dust ! It explains why Docs are loathe to prescribe T3 - oh dear I think it has increased in price since the last time the price was mentioned....

[galathea]

t3 used to be a brand called. Tertroxin. ( as I remember). And there is a limit on how much a branded medicine can be.... It is always assumed that the generic version will be cheaper than the branded one.

The makers of Tertroxin decided to relabel it as generic Liothyronine, so because it is a generic, there is no price control. There is no competition from a branded make of Liothyronine.... S the price went up from £20 something pounds a month, to over a hundred.

It may be cheaper for the doc to prescribe NDT. Does anyone know how much the docs are charged for NDT?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to galathea]

No competition from another generic liothyronine even!

It is perhaps interesting that the USA generic liothyronine (Mylan, Paddock, Kaiser, maybe one or two others) is now almost the same price as pukka branded Pfizer/King Cytomel. Ours seems now to be a similar price to all of them. Given the prices we see in other countries (including Germany and France as well as more obviously low-cost countries) I don't see how any of them can justify their prices in the USA or our one in the UK.

(When the USA makes are specially imported to the UK the costs rocket even further.)

Rod

[rocketmom in reply to helvella]

American here. Just checked the pharmacy. Liothyronine, without any health insurance, costs 14 bucks. That's 8.61 for you.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to rocketmom]

For how many tablets?

Must admit my USA pricing is based on what I have seen as the list prices not what people actually pay!

[rocketmom in reply to helvella]

30 pills. But, most people would use insurance, as it's mandatory here now. And, that makes it so your copay is about 5 bucks, depending. It's hard to say because there are million and one plans, so that's generally speaking. Also, generally speaking, you can just go ahead and get 3 months worth for the same 5 bucks under an automatic mailing program.

Ready to be mad? Armour, without insurance, costs 12 dollars (£7.39) for 30 pills and doctors give you whatever you ask for, because if they don't you can just go somewhere else.

[Glynisrose]

So? Consider the savings from your not taking other tablets too such as anti-depressant, anti-inflammatories, painkillers etc. then it soon balances out!! Not to mention that on the correct medication you are a fully functioning member of society and not ill in bed!!

[shaws Administrator in reply to Glynisrose]

I personally believe that T3 from MP pharma is a rip-off. I doubt it can be justified in any way but certainly gives them a nice profit.

You are quite right about the 'other' medicines due to being either undertreated or undiagnosed causing the symptoms.

[JellyJac]

Just as an aside, it would b cost effective o treat even at this price if it were to make people feel better, rather than the cost of people using up valuable time and resources due to being constantly ill...

[Hidden]

No wonder they don't want to prescribe it - and have, therefore, made it a self-fulfilling no-no. The fraction of that that one pays to get it from abroad is so small I can't do the math.

[ukangell]

I bought don't T3 from Rhodes, over the counter at 2€ for 30 x 25mcg tablets. I think the nhs is being over charged.

[Tallboy]

Interested in the price quoted for T3. I live in Wales and my request for T3 to my GP was rejected on the grounds NHS here don't allow GP's to prescribe despite a private consultant endocrinologist recommending I be given it. Long story short. I looked into the cost of a private prescription and got prices between £110 & £130 for 28 tabs. I then did my research and realised you can get it OTC in Europe for 3euro. Given this I sent a letter to my local Assembly Member asking him to take up the price discrepency and why was the NHS being ripped off.? I did get a reply from the Health Minister Mark Drayford who said the cost of T3 was approximately £26 for 28 x 20mcg. Didn't recognise this figure but decided not to follow it up as I , like many, just get the meds from Europe and can't be bothered with NHS.