The latest price for Liothyronine on the NHS

[dolphin5]

Today I got one of the Boots parmacists (an English branch) to check the cheapest price of Liothyronine that can be acquired through the NHS. The price she gave me was £329.20 for one pack. That was the cheapest!!!!!

I had explained that in Scotland someone had managed to get Sandoz Liothyronine through a Boots chemist, but according to Boots head office, the Scottish NHS is a different organisation from the English one, and that can't be done in England.

Amazing!!!!!!

Interestingly, before making the phonecall, she looked up what they can get in a big catalogue, and there is a Boots brand for about £98. The NHS doesn't use that though.

What a mess!!!!!

[Clutter]

Dolphin5,

If you had a prescription for Sandoz Liothyronine it would be considerably cheaper than £329.

[dolphin5 in reply to Clutter]

If you can get it! Boots told me that they can't get it, and the it must be a Scottish thing as they are different from the England NHS.

I'm waiting for a response from my local Pharmacy - not Boots. I spoke to them this afternoon to follow up on a request a couple of months ago. At the time, the pharmacist couldn't find Sandoz and could only find the usual Concordia price.

I'm going to nip back shortly with the list that went out in the ITT (Facebook) campaign document re stopping over-the-counter drugs and T3. It may give him more options to look up.

I'm not going to stop trying!!!!!

[Clutter in reply to dolphin5]

Dolphin5,

Boots and Lloyds get locked into their own supply chain. It may be better to go to independent pharmacies. If your prescription is for Sandoz your independent pharmacy can obtain it via IDIS or another wholesaler in this link thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...

[dolphin5 in reply to Clutter]

Thanks Clutter, I'll take that list to the pharmacist later as well.

[dolphin5 in reply to Clutter]

Well, I've handed over the list of prices around the world, and the pharmacy wholesalers, and my local pharmacist seems to be looking forward to having another go at finding a more reasonable price.

[Baobabs]

Why is the British Government buying Lyothyronine from such an expensive source when there are in theory much cheaper alternatives?

[dolphin5 in reply to Baobabs]

Good question!!!!!

[diogenes Remembering in reply to Baobabs]

Sheer, bumbling, hide-bound, rules-proscribed ineptitude! If someone is being held up by a highwayman and there are armed friends nearby who could intervene, it doesn't seem logical to quietly hand over the purse!

[Baobabs in reply to diogenes]

Love your passion and eloquence! Still think there is more to this than meets the eye. Surely by now the health minister is aware how comparatively cheaply T3 can be bought elsewhere and indeed folk are doing this and in many instances medicating themselves. A sham, absolutely shocking that this dilemma is raging on with no apparent overt discussion and hope of a resolution.

[dolphin5 in reply to diogenes]

Well said!!!!!!!!

[Shelley1954 in reply to Baobabs]

Probably cause someone is getting a good old fashioned back hander!!!

[Baobabs in reply to Shelley1954]

I’d second that. Not the least bit bothered about immoral acts but ever so sorry caught out. Well let’s hope!

[Baobabs]

Yes but please, someone, anyone must know. Whatever the answer to an apparently simple question l would guess it inevitably involves subterfuge, cloak and dagger shenanigans, much intrigue and possibly a touch of immoral you scratch my back .............. A one size fits all medication is a non starter, even commoner garden pain relief comes in small, medium and large!

[dolphin5 in reply to Baobabs]

The official line is that the price increased in response to UK requirements for improved quality - Concordia say that this has been an expensive process. Personally, I've been taking T3 bout in Greece for 1 Euro (a pack of 30x25mcg) and the quality seems fine to me!!!!!

[humanbean in reply to dolphin5]

Based on posts I've read on the forum, Concordia T3 is rubbish. And it has a very short life - only a year from manufacture, I believe.

[dolphin5 in reply to humanbean]

So in a way, it not such good quality as the cheap brands. Less stable?????

[humanbean in reply to dolphin5]

Certainly would suggest they are less stable than they were.

[Quokka in reply to humanbean]

I agree. My Concordia NHS T3 had a shelf life of one month, the tablets were tiny and crumbled easily, and rattled around in a plastic pot. The German T3 I now buy will last for 18 months, tablets are large and easy to break and come in proper blister packs. Around 10EUR for the same number of tablets as the Concordia £329 pack. Also, I feel better on it. I don't know how the NHS and pharmaceutical company bosses sleep at night.

[rosemaryanne17 in reply to Quokka]

Please could you tell me where do you get your German t3 from ?

[Quokka in reply to rosemaryanne17]

I've just had some Thybon20Henning (20mcg tablets) delivered from mycare.de mycare.de/en/online-kaufen/... I sent a letter in English wih my prescription to say what I wanted (not signed for as it goes to a PO box.) Then I used their online order form- it' s in German but just the usual- name, address, etc. After 2 or 3 days they sent me an automated email. It's in German too, but it just tells you to pay, and gives their bank details. You have to add 17EUR for delivery. My T3 arrived within a week of payment.

[RedApple in reply to rosemaryanne17]

rosemaryanne17, There's some information on sources for T3 (with prescription) from outside the UK on the main Thyroid UK website here thyroiduk.org/tuk/treatment...

[Shelley1954 in reply to humanbean]

By the time you get it from the pharmacy, it only has a couple of months. I changed to Morningside, once used to it, much better and longer expiry

[paulaelizabeth in reply to Shelley1954]

Hi Shelley. I am currently taking Mercury T3. I managed to get my gp to write Morningside for future prescriptions.

Can I ask you how you got on with switching to Morningside in the beginning, did you find it stronger?

[Shelley1954 in reply to paulaelizabeth]

Yes it is stronger, I took half Mercury Pharma and half Morningside for a few weeks and then it wasnt a problem.

[paulaelizabeth in reply to Shelley1954]

Thanks Shelley. I will try that.

😀

[Baobabs in reply to dolphin5]

Also what is the point of ensuring quality control when the ensuing cost Prohibits the recipients from having it prescribed?

[dolphin5 in reply to Baobabs]

No point whatsoever. Also, it's not clear that it is better quality anyway! It's just the most expensive T3 in the world!!!! Maybe not something to be proud of. When I was a civil servant, people were very keen on getting the best unit price for everything. That's something the NHS seems to have overlooked!

[Baobabs]

Thank you for this information Dolphin5. Sorry call me syndical but I smell a rat. There must be far more important people than me with a vested interest asking this question?

[dolphin5 in reply to Baobabs]

There is some investigating going on, but no real outcome yet. I can't remember the details, but others might.

[Baobabs]

I have lived and worked in many non democratic countries where issues of human rights and transparency on many levels are major issues. I simply ponder on the meaning of democracy when so many folk have endured the removal of T3 from their treatment and there appears to be no valid or explainable reason for it in the UK.

[helvella]

I am intrigued by the "Boots brand" product. What on earth is it?

So far as I am aware there are only three extant licences for liothyronine tablets in the UK. All three are much more expensive than that.

There is a free-for-all pricing for private prescriptions. Well worth asking every source you can find.

[dolphin5 in reply to helvella]

I hadn't heard of it before. The pharmacist just said "it's our own brand" and she showed me the listing in her book. I can only assume that it doesn't meet those magically exacting standards that Concordia apparently meet.

I do wonder what the Concordia T3 pills are like in Canada - since Concordia is a Canadin company. I believe that Canadians pay about a quarter of the price we pay here. Do they have a sub-standard product, or maybe a bargain price????

[helvella in reply to dolphin5]

Wish you'd taken a sneaky photo with your phone!

[dolphin5 in reply to helvella]

Isn't Boots now owned by an American company? Or did we keep the pharmacy bit of the business? Just wondering if it's made in America?????

[helvella in reply to dolphin5]

Walgreen Boots Alliance is the overall company - but I have no idea how the bits relate and operate.

The issue I see is licensing. They certainly could be listing a USA product but I'd be surprised if it were acceptable for it to be branded as "Boots" - that would surely make it a UK product - not a special import?

There's far too much I don't know and don't understand.

[dolphin5 in reply to helvella]

It was just listed as "Liothyronine". Maybe they can't sell it to the NHS but it is available to sell to people with a private prescription?

[helvella in reply to dolphin5]

The licence issues apply equally.

Pharmacies are supposed to supply UK licensed products where they exist. Only if they do not exist, or there is some other special feature are they freed to supply unlicensed products.

[dolphin5 in reply to helvella]

But if that is the case, how did someone manage to get Sandoz liothyronine prescribed on an NHS prescription (through Boots)?

[helvella in reply to dolphin5]

First issue is that Sandoz was in 25 microgram tablets. So, if the prescription is made out for 20 microgram tablets - tough!

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Trouble is, later information suggested that Sandoz no longer make liothyronine tablets.

[dolphin5 in reply to helvella]

I'll PM the person who said she gets it.

[dolphin5 in reply to helvella]

I had a reply from the person who was getting Sandoz T3 on the NHS. She now gets a French brand instead, so it looks as if we must all forget Sandoz. I'm still waiting for a reply from my local pharmacist.

[helvella in reply to dolphin5]

Standard French brand is Sanofi Cynomel.

[Baobabs in reply to dolphin5]

The plot thickens

[silverfox7 in reply to dolphin5]

May be very high charges for delivery-well it's the only thing missing out of the equation!!!! How do they get away with it?

[Clarrisa]

Are there patents on these type of medications that can be skirted in different countries(?) I am wondering if patents play any part in this.

[dolphin5 in reply to Clarrisa]

No idea.

[Clarrisa]

How else could drug patent holders be amassing & becoming multi billionaires?

[helvella in reply to Clarrisa]

That might make sense for medicines that are in patent.

Liothyronine isn't. (Not sure if ever it was patented in the UK and the USA.)

[Babette]

MIMS is still showing the price as £258.20, and that's consistent with the comment the pahrmacist made when I picked mine up last week : mims.co.uk/drugs/endocrine/...

That's still far too expensive though.

[dolphin5 in reply to Babette]

Maybe MIMS is out of date???? Mind you, it doesn't really make a lot of difference does it - it is still a price that no-one should be paying.

[Babette in reply to dolphin5]

I don't think so. When I picked up 4 boxes of T3 last week, the pharmacist made a comment about it being the best part of £1k. I showed him the BTA document comparing the costs in the UK, France and Germany and he couldn't believe it.

[dolphin5 in reply to Babette]

Maybe different pharmacies get it at different prices - perhaps from different suppliers?

[Sotonowl]

Can we not just get the name and address of the bloke or woman responsible for the price hike published on here then we can all go round his place and ask why the hike, should be fun, i'll go first.