NDT in the UK

[Hookie01]

Ok, so I am a little confused (doesn't take much 😅)

I happened to mention that NDT isn't licensed in the UK on a FB group I am on for RAI and Graves disease. A lady in the states said its now "legal" in the UK and posted a link to the Thyroid UK website which states this:

American and Canadian brands of NDT are now available in the UK. The American brands are Armour Thyroid, NatureThroid, WP Thyroid and NP Thyroid. There is one Canadian brand, ERFA Thyroid.

It says that this was updated on:

Date updated: 14/04/21 (V1.3)

Review date: 11/04/22

Does this mean its available now in the UK or has it been stopped since 14/04/21?

Just clinging onto hope lol.

Thanks

[pennyannie]

Hello Hookie :

Yes brands of NDT such as Armour and Efra have always been available on the NHS and up to around 20 odd years ago your doctor was able to prescribe all treatment options for hypothyroidism including T3 and Natural Desiccated Thyroid if T4 monotherapy didn't restore your health and well being.

Currently the doctor can only prescribe T4 and if this doesn't work well for you an NHS endocrinologist is required to assess you and your medical need for either T3 or NDT.

However if you manage to get a ' named patient only prescription' from your doctor you can access NHS brands of Armour or Efra that way.

Alternatively if you pay to see an endocrinologist you may well get a private prescription and can then ' shop ' the pharmacies detailed on the Thyroid UK website and pay for either Armour or Efra yourself.

On the ' net ' you can find other brands of NDT from other areas of the World so there are a few options there to also explore if you can't get anywhere the accepted way, through your NHS doctor and endocrinologist.

[Hookie01 in reply to pennyannie]

But you still can't get it freely on the NHS like you can levothyroxine? I think that is what the woman is saying and it doesn't really make that clear on the website. Its still near impossible to get it in the UK unless you have money!!

[pennyannie in reply to Hookie01]

Well yes - that's the name of game - our health service has evolved into a 2 tier system very much weighted towards having to take out medical insurance in fear that you may get ill and need a hospital bed or having a pot of gold sovereigns under the bed to pay for treatment - it's become a business and we are caught up in the transition.

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to pennyannie]

Hi

I sadly think its always been like that, good health is the preserve of the rich. Who can afford private health care, supplements, can afford to eat healthily, have the time to exercise because they're not working 2 jobs. And not living in cramped accommodation or in a damp flat.

Its extremely unfair and is getting worse I think but its always been there. You only have to look at life expectancy rates between wealthy areas and those living in deprived boroughs. Shocking.

[Hookie01 in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

Totally agree with you, its awful isn’t it. And as you say, its only going to get worse 😔

[pennyannie in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

No argument:

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Much easier to get T3 prescribed alongside levothyroxine, than NDT …..partly due to cost ….but not exclusively

Armour 2000 prescriptions in U.K. in last year

openprescribing.net/analyse...

erfa …only 333 prescriptions

openprescribing.net/analyse...

Liothyronine, 59,000 prescriptions in last year ….and increasing numbers as price reduces further

openprescribing.net/analyse...

[Hookie01 in reply to SlowDragon]

I am hoping to get my T3 back next week as my dr has referred me back to my endo, i was just wondering what that statement meant really.

Thank-you

[helvella]

I wouldn't take that much notice of the dates or the rest of the information.

Nature-Throid and WP Thyroid haven't been available at all, anywhere in the world, for about five years.

Clearly no desiccated thyroid product is licensed in the UK. Check any medicine you like here:

products.mhra.gov.uk/

Thyroid BP was the last UK "licensed" desiccated thyroid (potentially manufactured by more than one company). But that was somewhere around 1980. (And licensing has changed considerably since then which is why I put it in quotes.)

The other makes are potentially available in the UK. But they are special imports. And we have long been able to get such things, entirely legally, if we can get a prescription in the first place. And we need to be able to afford them as all special imports tend to be expensive.

I'm not clear what you are referring to in terms of dates! Is that a document of some sort?

(Happy to look at many links but I never visit facebook.)

[Hookie01 in reply to helvella]

Thanks for the info.

It was from the Thyroid Uk website, the lady posted the link. The dates are just saying when it was written and due for revision

[RedApple in reply to helvella]

Helvella 'Nature-Throid and WP Thyroid haven't been available at all, anywhere in the world, for about five years.'

Not quite. It may be five years since the potency/stability was first questioned, but it wasn't until around August 2020 that sales were permanently discontinued. I still have an (empty) pot with a 12/2022 expiry date.

[helvella in reply to RedApple]

Ah - right. Sorry for that. And thanks for the correction.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Hookie01

Maybe the lady doesn't understand what is meant by "unlicensed" compared to "legal".

It can be prescribed on the NHS but the prescribing doctor has to take personal responsibilty and not many are willing to do that. Of course, many doctors know little to nothing about NDT, they're just taught that Levo is the magic bullet where hypothyroidism is concerned.

This is what the GMC say:

When prescribing an unlicensed medicine, you must:

be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence or experience of using the medicine to demonstrate its safety and efficacy

take responsibility for prescribing the medicine and for overseeing the patient’s care, monitoring and any follow up treatment, or make sure that arrangements are in place for another suitable doctor to do so

make a clear, accurate and legible record of all medicines prescribed and, where you are not following common practice, your reasons for prescribing an unlicensed medicine.

[Hookie01 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh ok,that makes more sense. Thank you very much.