Cytomel cost for 100 x 25mcgs from USA

[Pascha1]

Does anyone know what the NHS pay for cytomel 25mcgs from USA ? Are they cheaper or more expensive ?

[RedApple Administrator]

Pascha1,

What makes you think the NHS buys Cytomel 25mcg from the USA? I'm not aware that they do, or of any reason why they would.

Are they cheaper or more expensive ? Cheaper or more expensive than what?

[Pascha1 in reply to RedApple]

My Dr has just given me a prescription for Cytomel USA the special pharmacy is getting it for me .

Cheaper or moire expensive for the NHS other than Advanz, morning side or Teva which are £205 for 28 hes put in my prescription 100 x 25mcgs .. I was just wondering if cheaper for NHS

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Pascha1]

Ah right, thank you, I understand what you wrote now

Interested to know why your doc has prescribed it for you?

Comments by heathermr below suggest it's much cheaper for the NHS than UK licensed T3. But that's not too surprising given how the UK brands have been determined to rip off the NHS over the last few years

[Pascha1 in reply to RedApple]

I do not get on with any uk brands, I asked for thybon but he said he could prescribe cytomel from USA , thats what came up on his screen so he pushed send and gave me prescription for Cytomel, I am allergic to many drugs I think maybe I cant tolerate lactose, got lots of homogenous double faults on Lactose, My mother couldnt take dairy products either,,, but I didnt get on with Teva T3 which is lactose free I felt severely Hypo on them and can not take Teva T4 either god knows what they put in them

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Any "special request" medication is wide open to exploitation of price regulation loophole

Any 25mcg T3 would be a 'special"

If a drug is not listed on the NHS drugs tariff, it is only available as a special

Only 20mcg is listed on NHS drugs tariff

express.co.uk/news/uk/91348...

ft.com/content/adb9cdec-60d...

[Calends]

I pay 2.10 American for 30 tablets. 1 pound 71

Is that what you wanted to know? I am sorry if it isn't.

[JMo1]

When getting quotes for Cytomel from my pharmacist over a year ago (I had a private prescription), the cheapest quote he could get for 90x 5mcg was around £450. That was basically one month’s treatment as my daughter takes 15mcg daily . I was horrified!

[Pascha1 in reply to JMo1]

jxxxs cxxxxt thats expensive

[JMo1 in reply to Pascha1]

I know!!! I was stunned and could never have afforded it. He eventually got another brand for around £100 per month and thankfully she responded really well so that was just about manageable. She eventually got it on NHS which is a huge weight lifted. It’s disgusting that so many lives are ruined when refused this life changing treatment. It’s criminal that it’s all about profit!!

[Pascha1 in reply to JMo1]

So glad you managed to get it on NHS, its wrong they only offer one drug that has to travel through so many enzymes before it gets to the liver to convert to the active drug in an already a compromised hypothyroid body and to make many pay for own drug to live a normal life again...its very wrong and see so many getting refused it,

[heathermr]

I am prescribed Cytomel which initially came from Canada at about a third the cost to the NHS than British T3. My pharmacist has since found an alternative, Ace Cytomel which comes from the Netherlands and is a little bit cheaper still. Not only that but Cytomel is far more effective and better quality than British T3. The longest I have had to wait for the tablets to be ready is 1.5 weeks. All I had to do was to be aware that Cytomel is not licenced in this country but is the most T3 tablet used in the world . I can highly recommend Cytomel and i would never go back to British T3.

Heather

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to heathermr]

Note:

Ace Cytomel is made by a different company - not by Pfizer. This is in no way a criticism, just information.

It appears that they (Netherlands/Ace) are exploiting a legal "loophole" which, in some circumstances, permits a company to manufacture a product under the same brand name in certain circumstances. I think it also has the same list of ingredients as Pfizer Cytomel.

[Greekchick in reply to helvella]

It is likely a licensing agreement between Pfizer and Ace for the Netherlands market and possibly others as well. Hope this info is helpful.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Greekchick]

I suspect that this is not licensed from Pfizer. My reasons include:

There is a 12.5 microgram tablet (unheard of in Pfizer's product);

The tablets are physically very distinct - e.g. having double-score on both sides of the 25 microgram tablets;

No mention whatsoever of "under licence" (or should that be "under license"?).

ace-pharm.nl/en/product/cyt...

I suspect that Pfizer either never registered "Cytomel" in the Netherlands or the registration lapsed. Or there is some "human needs" justification.

One interesting note:

Ongoing stability tests have shown that Cytomel should be stored cool (2 – 8 °C). Patients can store Cytomel outside the fridge for a maximum of 1 month (if under 25 °C).

[Greekchick in reply to helvella]

Very interesting! That’s stuff you would certainly know being on the other side of the pond! I was making an educated guess! Thank you for all the info.

[StitchFairy in reply to heathermr]

Gosh that's interesting. How on earth did you manage to get branded Cytomel on an NHS prescription? UK GPs seem to be so fixated on not prescribing anything for thyroid that isn't licensed here.

[Pascha1 in reply to StitchFairy]

I have a brilliant GP I dont get on with UK branded ones, I have been getting T3 from Germany from pharmacist with ordinary NHS prescription asked GP to puy that on prescription and he said he could do Cytomel USA Im waiting to pick it up has been a week now so probably get next week Im on 50mcgs T3 mono which Endo initiated and GP taking over prescribing

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pascha1]

Likely NHS is being charged vastly over the price of private prescription for Thybon Henning

There's no price control on specials

Definitely happening on the Sigma Pharma 5mcg. Private prescription in UK is £126 for 90 tablets of 5mcg tablets

NHS being charged between 3 to 4 times that

[Pascha1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thybon he would of had to put in for a named basis and apply to CCG, I think as its unlicensed he is willing to take fullest ever on his own, sorry im a bit tired now, but I think he can prescribe Cytomel with out having to ask the `ccc,, not 00% on that one though, maybe know more later next week xx

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Pascha1]

Thanks for the explanation. I hadn't realised Cytomel was available for NHS to prescribe!

[heathermr in reply to StitchFairy]

Its amazing how GPs will change their mind about Cytomel when you start talking money. I got a quote from my local pharmacy and attached lots of printouts from the Pfizer web site. It only took a few days and once he rang me and got me to confirm that i knew that the Cytomel was not licenced and that I accepted the risks, the prescription was in my sticky mit within 24 hrs! Money definitely talks!

Heather

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to heathermr]

Suggest you ask pharmacy the price being charged to NHS.

[heathermr in reply to SlowDragon]

According to my pharmacist my last prescription of Ace Cytomel costs £540 per 100 25mcg tablets at the moment. Thats considerably cheaper than British T3 at over 9p a tablet.

Heather

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to heathermr]

Uk T3 is currently £206 per 28 tablets

That's £7.20 per tablet

Obviously still slightly more than £5.40 per tablet of Cytomel

[Greekchick in reply to SlowDragon]

That is utterly insane considering it has been around for such a long time. Just crazy.

[Pascha1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Im looking for price NHS pays for USA Cytomel tablets 25mcgs for 100 tablets the uk ones are all on BNF the name cytomel is on the BNF but no prices

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Pascha1]

Anything not listed on NHS standard drug tarrif is a "special", and price is not regulated. Hence such wild variation in charge to NHS.

Sigma Pharma 5mcg is £126 on private prescription, yet NHS paying £380-£420 for same item

Thybon Henning 20mcg is 31euro for 100 tablets 20mcg on private prescription. If Thybon Henning is specified as to be prescription on NHS, the price charged to NHS may be far higher.

Perhaps you could find out? Ask your pharmacy the cost

[Hidden in reply to heathermr]

Hi there, I used to buy my own perrigo liothyronine from America it was the best however I ended up getting T3 from nhs on named patient basis and I requested the perrigo to pharmacist who got it from wholesalers for a few months for me untill it changed companies and I ended up on Pfizer cytomel that was alright for a 2 years untill it went out of production a few months ago and strangley at that time my last batches ready to expire in Feb 2019 made me feel horrible. I didn't want to believe it was the cytomel but after stopping it the symptoms went. I took it again only to feel sick again so I stopped and went on Mexican cynomel that's great. I have also recently had to go on sanofi cytomel from France on nhs named patient basis that's alright too. I prefer it to Pfizer cytomel. With regards to Ace pharma cytomel , I found it weak and unstable. It had to be kept in fridge. I had some weird symptoms on that,so for me it's a waste of NHS money. I hope you feel good on Pfizer cytomel. It was great in beginning for me I hope it's all fine now and being manufactured again no problems. It used to take idis upto 3 months at a time to get it to my chemist for me. Just a nightmare.

However I hope Brexit doesn't interfere with my sanofi cynomel from France.🙄🤨 Take care

[heathermr]

Having had both of these Cytomels I found absolutely no difference between them. All I know is that they work far better than any British T3 and are actually far cheaper. My prescription is for 62.5 mcg as it is full replacement.

Heather

[Pascha1 in reply to heathermr]

I have thybon at the moment the pharmacy gets it, I had to reduce it by 10mcgs as was much stronger than uk ones so pharma ripping off the quality and quantity interesting to see how I do on cytomel

[kaput88]

I don't know about the USA. In Canada Pfizer Cytomel 90 x 25mcg from a brick and mortar local pharmacy costs $110 cad / 55 gbp. So the wholesale cost that the NHS pays should be less than that.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to kaput88]

Special imports like this usually go through a specialist importer. That specialist importer might pay the sort of amount you quote, but they then add their mark-up which can be very significant.

We simply do not have access to the numbers so we cannot point a finger and identify who is paying what price, to whom.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to kaput88]

As helvella says.....the supplier to the NHS often adds substantial mark up

Sigma Pharma 5mcg is £126 for 90 tablets private prescription. NHS is being charged between £380-£424 for exactly the same item, depending on which pharmacy you ask

[kaput88 in reply to SlowDragon]

£380-£424! that's crazy. I didn't know the suppliers can get away with such a big mark up . There are two Pfizer factories in Canada, that's probably what keeps the cost down.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to kaput88]

UK taxpayers being taken to the cleaners.

Loop hole need closing and companies found guilty of exploitation given substantial fines

[Pascha1 in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes you are right and I think they should be made to pay patients compensation as they have suffered because the ripping off they are doing X

[LindaC]

I've been buying since 2011, using fully since 2012, CYNOMEL - it's the same but made by Grossman - sometimes there have been 'scares' when it's gone off market - but this is generally very reliable. Dr P gave me the source way back since he uses it and NAX [Nutri Adrenal Extra]. T3 prices used to be great but have increased to IRO $125+ USD for 300 incl. shipping to UK (just looked, now selling @ $35 for 100) + shipping to UK. The $ to £ conversion is now horrendous due to...

[Hellonwheels in reply to LindaC]

I also use the Grossman Cynomel, as my insurance with not cover the Cytomel in the States.

[LindaC in reply to Hellonwheels]

Yes, I've always found them good - wonder what Cytomel is like xox

[Pascha1]

Yes is unlicensed but GP was fine with prescribing it

[heathermr in reply to Pascha1]

According to my pharmacist my last prescription of Ace Cytomel costs £540 per 100 25mcg tablets at the moment. Thats considerably cheaper than British T3 at over 9p a tablet.

Heather

[Pascha1 in reply to heathermr]

Thank you for that, I am still waiting for mine its taking ages to come that is quite a lot cheaper as I have 50mcgs a day so the Dr will be happier about that, i wouldnt like to foot the bill though lol x so its just over half the price, why are they all not prescribing this brand ? keep letting pharma in UK rip them off madness

[heathermr in reply to Pascha1]

I am on 62.5mcg per day so that means a hefty bill to the NHS each time I have a repeat. The Drs do not like using Cytomel as it's not licenced here.

Heather

[Pascha1 in reply to heathermr]

My GP is ok on prescribing it he has to do hand written prescription which they call a special .

[Pascha1 in reply to heathermr]

I dont think mine is Ace it is the use import is that more expensive ?

[Pascha1]

The pharmacy told me Cytomel USA cost £353 for 100 x 25ncgs so is much cheaper than UK brands