Big Brother (or is that Big Pharma?) strikes again - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

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Big Brother (or is that Big Pharma?) strikes again

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12 years ago•17 Replies

This morning I checked my supply of my winter standby of Echinacea, and decided it was time to buy some more.

To my horror the price from my usual supplier has rocketed, so I checked other sites only to discover that the same high prices applied, and on none of the sites was it now called straightforward Echinacea, but "cold and flu relief". So I decided to check another natural remedy, milk thistle, and surprise, surprise these had also rocketed in price.

So I assume that the eurocrats in Brussels have finally got their way.

Have others found similar price rises, or have you managed to find alternative reliable sources?

Jane x

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17 Replies

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12 years ago

Nothing useful to add except my cynicism knows no bounds towards Big Pharma!!

Have you tried that 'herbal' retailer in the USA?

12 years ago

Thanks, Cinnamon. No I haven't, but have imported from the US before and had massive import duty slapped on! We're going to US in Feb though so might stock up then. Jane x

fennel• in reply to12 years ago

keep the value of your parcel below £15 and there is nothing to pay !

elaine2447• in reply to6 years ago

If you ask the supplier very nicely and explain how we are ripped off plus the mandatory £8 fee from Royal Mail (even though we dont employ them to collect the vat etc) they will reduce the value of the product. Don't forget also, UK customs take into account the cost of the postage as part of the value.

helvella• in reply toelaine24476 years ago

Asking a supplier to understate value is illegal.

This thread is also over seven years old and the original poster has left.

Framboise12 years ago

Vogel's Echinaforce drops from Jan de Vries look a similar price to usual, have you tried those?

• in reply toFramboise12 years ago

Thanks. I'll have a look. Jane x

12 years ago

So sorry to disappoint you but this isn't a "big pharma" issue at all. Please redirect your anger towards government regulatory authorities.

Just for your information

A) big pharma provides you with the research that keeps you well on your thyroxin replacement ( of whatever sort including the dedicated thyroid ) without which you would be not coping at all at all - you should be thanking them not disrespecting their contribution to your well being

B) big pharma companies are not remotely interested in lobbying on herbal or alternative remedies. I know because I work for the UK trade association that represents the industry. Pharma companies are more concerned to find new and more effective remedies to target our disease problems without side effects. These drugs cost hundreds of millions of pounds to research and test long before any marketing starts and then the government won't pay for them on the NHS because they are too expensive

Please do not blame " big pharma" for all the ills and misfortunes of the herbal remedy industry. The issue is regulation to ensure manufacture of "safe" medicines for the first time in that industry with appropriately clinically tested results being put on marketing claims not bringing the industry into advertising difficulties by making unsafe claims for what herbal remedies can do.

marram• in reply to12 years ago

@solephilosophy: take care, your soapbox is showing. Mind you, I admire your loyalty.

I don't think 'Big Pharma' had anything whatsoever to do with keeping anyone well on Thyroxine replacement!

Most of the meaningful research on thyroid health was done way back in the late 19th and early 20th century, before the existence of 'big Pharma'. Nowadays the decent research is mainly done by people who realise that thyroid patients are not getting a good deal. And that does NOT include 'Big Pharma'.

There are also some 'researchers' who seem intent on saving time and effort for doctors by encouraging them to diagnose thyroid sufferers with mental illnesses so they can bombard them with antidepressants, manufactured by.....?

T4 is positively archaic and I don't see newer and more effective thyroid treatments appearing! I've had thyroid problems for 55 years - they use exactly the same treatment as in the 60s,

What research was that, again?

foxglove• in reply to12 years ago

Sensible comment!!!

Think a lot of folks should be grateful for the work of big pharma, it's easy to criticise and after all we should realise "nobody's perfect"

Margo• in reply to12 years ago

Impressive solephilosophy you almost made big pharma sound saintly!!!

Angel_of_the_North• in reply to12 years ago

Boggle! Don't you read the news?A) Lots of big pharmaceutical compnaies inlcuding our own GSK fake their research (as hte fines as peanuts compared to the profits).

B) Yes, they are interested in stopping alternative remedies (and anything they can't profit from) and their representatives are on many committees in Brussels and here, which regulate herbal remedies in the EU and ban others.

Rowlocks!

12 years ago

Thank you all for both sides of the story.

No I'm not on a soap box or a rant.

Actually I'm well medicated and well for the first time in a long time.

Thanks to clinical research in areas around the functioning of the endocrine system which affects other symptoms of hypo thyroid ism which as we all know is a complex disease.

This other medication has enabled my t3 replacement to function properly and with no side effects at all thanks to the targeted method of treatment.

And do you know what paid for the clinical research to get done ?

Big pharma companies who have the capital reserved to take a risk on developing new anti depressants which are still too expensive for NICE to recommend to the NHS

So no rant. No soap box

Only thanks to those who still undertake research in areas that are considered as old fashioned.

And to the doctors for recognising that treatment of thyroid disease is not just about Sth levels or free t3 or free t4 but a much wider complex thing.

I am just thank ful that I live in the 21st century and not 100 years ago when we would not be able to have been helped. At all.

With best wishes to you all on your journeys

Sole philosophy

Zephyrbear• in reply to12 years ago

A hundred years ago we'd all have been given NDT, which is what most of us would love to be prescribed now, not the lamentable Levothyroxine...

• in reply to12 years ago

Hello Sole Philosophy,

We are all of course entitled to our own opinions, so thank you for yours. From a scientific perspective and personal experience I stand by my original statement.

Perhaps you could share with us all the information you have about the clinical research in areas around the functioning of the endocrine system which affects other symptoms of hypothyroidism from which you have benefited, and which NHS doctors you have consulted who recognise that treatment of thyroid disease is not just about FT3 or FT4. I think there are many on this site, including myself, who would like to know.

Thank you,

Jane x

fennel12 years ago

iherb.com/21st-Century-Heal...

these are cheap enough and if you keep your parcel below £15 worth then there will be no VAT and no handling fee to pay.

helvella6 years ago

When you see a user name of Hidden, it means that the person is no longer a member of this forum.

We often close posts that were originated by people who have left - there is no point in wasting our time making replies. Occasionally, the thread might still be active and popular and will be left. More often, it is simply a case of none of the admins noticing!

I shall now be closing this post to replies.