Trust me I'm a doctor

[gojo1]

Trust me I'm a doctor (BBC2) aired last night explored thyroid problems and also mentioned healthunlocked and also British Thyroid Association. Anyone see it?

bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b...

20 mins in roughly

[galathea]

They failed to mention that the thyroid produces 20% of the daily amount of t3 which is needed, but it was encouraging to hear dr Toft say he believes that eventually it will be recognised that t3 is needed.

I didnt like them showing Thai ndt along with armour. I know we are allowed to buy our own, but we shouldnt draw attention to this, or some idiot will try and stop it.

Xx

[StitchFairy in reply to galathea]

On the other hand, maybe showing products from other countries such as Thailand serves to make the point that it's not just an issue in the UK and US. There's apparently a big enough market for there to be three Thai products now. That must say something about the need there too?

[galathea in reply to StitchFairy]

We know there is a massve problem worldwide but for some reason the endocrinology world refuses to admit it. The amounts of seminars, debates and meetings held by the endocrine society shows that there is a problem. Many other diseases which have cures are not the subject of endless debate.

Its a bit tedious.... It was said in the program notes that there isn't enough evidence to show that ( ndt) works. Well its worked for over a hundred years..... How much do they need?

Grrrrrr. Rant over. Makes me want to bash their heads in with the ndt tub.

[juliep27]

I thought the program was great, as was the accompanying article on the BBC website. Clearest explanation of the condition that I have seen in a long time. Link here. I do wish they would explain why T3 is so expensive, if it only costs pennies to make. Is it because it is still under patent? bbc.co.uk/programmes/articl...

[Hillwoman in reply to juliep27]

No, it's not under patent. Price-gouging by the sole NHS T3 supplier is to blame - subject of much discussion on TUK over the past year.

[juliep27 in reply to Hillwoman]

If 1 in 50 men suffered from this condition, rather than 1 in 1,000, this would have been given much higher priority by the govt.

[Hillwoman in reply to juliep27]

Absolutely!

[galathea in reply to juliep27]

In the uk, medicine prices are decided by getting three quotations for price and the nhs pays the average price to the pharmacy doing the dispensing. Howver quotations are only given for branded medicines. Generic meds are not qoted for because it is always assumed they will be cheaper than the branded ones. (So, nescafe coffee will always be more expensive than asda own brand.)

However, there used to be only one brand of t3 called Tertroxin, so its price was regulated .... When the manufacturers realised that there was no control on generic prices, they removed the name tertroxin and declared that t3 was a generic medicine. There is no control on generic prices and as there is no named brand to compete, the price can be anything the supplier wants it to be.

Hence the rise from £20 a month to several hundred pounds. Its a bit short sighted because if there is no longer any being supplied there will be no profit at all.

Xx

[Glynisrose]

I have searched the BTA website for PATIENTS information and found very little so I ditched it.