Putting a price on mental health

In mental health outpatient clinics, it’s quite common to see patients suffering from low mood, poor sleep and concentration, low libido and lack of energy, all classic symptoms of depression.

But the antidepressants prescribed by GPs have failed to make them better, hence why they have been referred to a mental health specialist. In cases like these, we always do a blood test, which often reveals what is really wrong: an underactive thyroid, also known as hypothyroidism.

This condition mimics depression, but it has a physiological, rather than psychological, cause. When the hormone imbalance is corrected with medication, patients’ depression lifts.

But this week the Mail revealed there is a shameful postcode lottery regarding which medication is prescribed.

The standard treatment for low thyroid symptoms is a synthetic version of a hormone called T4. However, in about 300,000 patients this doesn’t work and they respond better to another hormone, liothyronine or T3.

Yet some health trusts have stopped prescribing it, effectively condemning patients to a life of depression no antidepressant can cure. This is all down to cost. While T4 costs about £2 for 28 days, the price of T3 has gone up 4,600 per cent from £4.46 for a 28-day course in 2007 to £204.39 in 2017.

The manufacturers should hang their heads in shame for holding the nHS to ransom like this. The scandal needs to be addressed and T3 made available to all those who need it.