Report on the Suspension of the Teva Marketing Authorisation for Levothyroxine 100 mcg Tablets

[lynmynott]

You may be aware that the marketing authorisation for the 100mcg tablet manufactured by Teva was suspended on 16th February 2012.

The MHRA have now published a report on the suspension of this product. For more information go to:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/news.h...

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

The report says:

However, specific advice was given for certain patient groups who might be particularly susceptible to changes in Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and may require close monitoring. This included pregnant women, those with heart disease and patients receiving this product for thyroid cancer. Physicians were requested to contact these groups with an early appointment for a clinical review and blood test.

and, later and more generally,

It also allowed time for GPs to arrange an appointment with patients to carry out additional monitoring if necessary.

I am wondering if anyone here was contacted by their physician or GP in relation to this issue?

I suspect that few physicians/GPs would have any idea which levothyroxine their patients were taking. So they would either have to contact all their patients on levothyroxine. Or none.

We did not get a huge flood of people reporting that they had been contacted.

So I do wonder whether these two statements were effectively implemented? Or not.

If the answer is that hardly more than a handful heard, we need to inform MHRA that their procedures are failing and specifically did fail on these two occasions.

Please let us know by posting a response if you DID get contacted.

Rod

[Jane104]

The comparison of the four brands is interesting. While Teva has clearly had issues with their process, it seems none of the brands are totally interchangeable. I wonder which is the one I have issues with!

[MaryMary]

What struck me was the fact that in 2010 approx. 1,300,000 people in the UK took Levothyroxine! An awful lot of people who could make up studies and who may not be as well as they could be.

Mary