And now that I have your attention, here’s the answer straight from the mouth of Kenny Soejoto, Chief Operating Officer of the only North American maker of desiccated porcine natural thyroid powder (American Laboratories): a firm NO!
“We have amply supply and so do the distributors for compounding pharmacists”, underscores Soejoto when I chatted with him today.
He also added in response to the recent shortages: “We didn’t spare an expense to push it along”. i.e “American Laboratories have caught up with all backorders, with the exception of one major company which has tight specifications, but they should be caught up by the first quarter in 2010″, explained Soejoto.
So what about specific rumors we keep hearing??
- My compounding pharmacy said they weren’t able to get it. Kenny explained that a small compounding pharmacy often can’t afford the minimum order that American Laboratories requires, nor does the smaller pharmacy want that much, which is an 110 lb drum of powder. So, says Soejoto, they need to contact their distributor, who is the middle man between a compounding pharmacy and American Laboratories. “The distributor for compounding pharmacies, “ explained Kenny, “will buy the larger amounts, make smaller packets, and then sell those to the compounding pharmacies”.
- American Laboratories can’t be the only North American makers of powdered thyroid because my compounder told me a different name. The different name you heard is the middle man mentioned above–a distributor for the thyroid powder to the compounding pharmacy. But that distributor got their supply from American Laboratories.
- My regular pharmacy said there is a supply issue for the brand I wanted. Again, Kenny explains there is no supply issue–they have plenty. Any pharmaceutical company that makes desiccated thyroid has to have ongoing credit worthiness and documentation before AI can sell to them. Also, we are simply experiencing continued demand being greater than supply, and it can take time to catch up. i.e. there may be more to the story than you hear under any comment about a supply issue problem.
In conclusion, Kenny Soejoto said they simply got into trouble from the growth of interest in desiccated thyroid the past few years, and they are much better prepared. Even Europe is inquiring more about it, he said. And my response to him?? Get ready, because you are doing millions of potential thyroid patients a HUGE favor by making it, and we’re going to continue to spread the world about natural desiccated thyroid. 
Check out posts below about other important issues, including more from Erfa, plus the problem of cellulose in compounded and regular desiccated thyroid.
*HO HO HO! Have a STTM book sent to someone you care about as a CHRISTMAS or HOLIDAY present. A card will be included, and the book will be in an envelope with a red bow!! Save money the more you buy!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 and is filed under desiccated thyroid, shortages of desiccated thyroid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Dana Neubaur said:
Dec 09, 09 at 9:54 pmI am allergic to synthroid (not that I was ever a fan anyway) and I cannot find my Armour anywhere. I live in the Orlando area.
Please, please, please advise!!
(http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/options-for-thyroid-treatment )
Amber Waddell said:
Dec 09, 09 at 10:39 pmI cannot find dissected thyroid anywhere in the northeast Nebraska area either. All pharmacies say they cannot get any anymore and that it no longer exists~! HELP!
( http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/options-for-thyroid-treatment P.S. you need to be reading these blogs. lol )
Dwayne said:
Dec 10, 09 at 6:56 amI have been very lucky to get my armour- it’s not always the full amount but every time I start to get low- they get another shipement in thank god. And the armour I have gotten the last two months has been much better again. I can tell the difference. I hope it continues or I will be switching. This is not the time of year to be feeling like shit LOL
Charlene Schum said:
Dec 10, 09 at 9:29 amHave been on a compounded version for 8 days. So far I’m doing ok. At first I felt a little lightheaded and speedy but all seems ok at the moment. Hope to get back on regular Armour as soon as it is back and hopefully the way it used to be. I’m lucky to have a compounding pharmacy to help me out, the first place said they did not make it. So keep trying.
Darlene said:
Dec 10, 09 at 10:55 amI can’t find Armour or Naturethroid at any local pharmacies. I’m going to call my endo and have her call a script to a compounding pharmacy. This whole situation SUCKS!!!!
Siobhan said:
Dec 10, 09 at 11:47 pmDarlene, Clark’s Pharmacy in Arizona has Nature-Throid and Wes-Throid Your doctor can call or fax in a prescription, and then, you’ll have to pay the pharmacy upfront to ship it to you, but you can then send that to your insurance for reimbursement. (480) 488-2007 is their number.
Edna said:
Dec 11, 09 at 3:36 amWell, that’s what my site was all about!
Suggest you look especially at Barnes, Murray, Hertoghe, Gull.
Don’t think I’ll ever be able to add anything else to trc.
But check most weeks – 06-12-09 visitor no: 53416
lots of love,
Edna xx
Joan Parker said:
Dec 14, 09 at 12:34 pmI saw on one site I read that it would be good to contact the FDA and let them know how I feel. I did just that, and they did e-mail me back. They are just saying that the makers of this medicine are being asked to get them approved, but that the FDA has not taken them off the market. They say the medicine is still available to consumers, and the problem is a shortage of product and manufacturing delays. All things that everyone has said and been told. What can we think when our pharmacies are telling us that the medicines are not available and won’t me in the future because the FDA is expecting the companies to go through trials, which can take a very long time? The pharmacist I talked to said that I should get a synthetic thyroid medicine, which was much better, and more stable anyway. The companies who supply the medicine don’t let us know anything really. All this does is make people suspicious. I have not been on Armour medicine for very long, but I do know that for the first time I have been able to lose weight and feel more energetic. Before that, all that happened was each year I needed a higher dose of Synthroid. I would be happier to know that if they are not going to have desiccated thyroid available here in the USA, then we could go the Canada. They are just stringing us along, and keeping our hopes up.
Joan
Susan said:
Dec 14, 09 at 4:56 pmWhile reading the comments about the pharmacist and his/her comment about “synthetic being better” is totally ignorant. If it was better DA— wouldn’t we all be taking that. It is not better — for some individuals– THERE IS NO Thyroid CONTROL WITH SYNTHROID. And do you think for a minute that pharmacist is in the back pocket of big pharma??
I have my suspicions that the maker of synthroid has some influence on FDA requiring clinical trials. It is really going to be embarassing 10 years down the road when we find out Armours is better. Great –except we will not have it in that time and Abbott Labs will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Susan said:
Dec 14, 09 at 4:57 pmWhile reading the comments about the pharmacist and his/her comment about “synthetic being better” is totally ignorant. If it was better DA— wouldn’t we all be taking that. It is not better — for some individuals– THERE IS NO Thyroid CONTROL WITH SYNTHROID. And do you think for a minute that pharmacist is not in the back pocket of big pharma??
I have my suspicions that the maker of synthroid has some influence on FDA requiring clinical trials. It is really going to be embarassing 10 years down the road when we find out Armours is better. Great –except we will not have it in that time and Abbott Labs will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Sarah said:
Dec 18, 09 at 9:04 amI am in Pittsburgh and dependent on Armour as I have no thyroid gland due to cancer.
My regular pharmacy and others I have called all say the same thing – Armour is unavailable, and they do not know when it will be back in stock.
I am fortunate to have a compounding pharmacist nearby who will make some, and I asked him about the shortage. Here’s his take -
In early 2009, Armour reformulated (with apparently less than great results!). In any case, this allowed the FDA to step in and say ‘Aha! This is a new drug. Now you are subject to the approval process to show that it is safe and effective.’
Armour did not have to go through FDA approval since they existed prior to FDA rules and were grandfathered in, but now with the new formula, they do.
Anyway, this process can take months or even years, and typically costs the pharm. co. upwards of 600 million dollars (!!!).
This explains the delay – and also makes me wonder if the costs are too high, whether Armour will pull the med altogether.
‘Why’ they would reformulate after 100 years of success is beyond me. That’s the real mystery. The rest is the FDA.
Andy said:
Dec 25, 09 at 12:12 pmFirst of all, I don’t care if the manufacturers of armour ever get their act together again…has anyone else besides me noticed their new formula tastes just like talcom powder and has the medicinal effect of the same? Just 30 days on the new stuff & I went full blown hypo! Not to mention all the scrambling around to get it only to discover that it didn’t work at all and then all the hassle and time to try to find an alternative. I am now on levothyroxin (t4)and liothyronine (t3). Not fond of the synthetic stuff but I am atleast feeling human again and it doesn’t cost an arm & a leg that the compounding pharmacy was charging. They can stuff it! Whatever their reasons were/are, why weren’t any of us notified? Why was this allowed to happen? You have plenty of Doctors writing in their opinions, where are the lawyers without thyroids?