The FDA is improving T4’s potency….but it won’t change one particular FACT…
Is this akin to “improving” cardboard?
The FDA announced today that they are tightening the potency specifications for levothyroxine sodium (aka Synthroid, Levoxyl, etc) “to ensure the drug retains its potency over its entire shelf life” rather than what often occurs with any T4 med: the deterioration of T4 before it’s expiration date. They state that this tightening will improve the quality of the product.
Cough.
Let me give you some history. After it was isolated, T4 was first produced as a treatment substance over 80 years ago. The T4 did result in some improvement in patients they tried it on at the time. But guess why they never gave it to patients beyond the early experiments? BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WASN’T STABLE. They knew that fact 40+ years before it came back on the market in the 60’s due to the heavy and moronic pharmaceutical promotion.
And the irony of this so-called improvement is that it’s NOT going to stop the deterioration of T4. They are only attempting to stop it before “the expiration date”.
Sorry FDA. You can improve the tensile strength of cardboard, but you can’t improve the FACT that T4-only meds are about as effective as giving a hypothyroid patient CARDBOARD…whether it’s stable or not.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01717.html
(Thanks Stephanie)