response 1 of 45:

Dec 7 02:09 UTC 1997

I have the application to become a member of the class action, but don't know
whether or not to file as such.  Also dont think much will come of the class
action suit.  I am stymied for a bit because I am not even sure where to go
to research the issue and get my facts.  I have been taking the drug for 20
years. I am also not sure I want to be part of a "frivolous" lawsuit if that
is the case.  But dont know how to find out.

response 3 of 45:

Dec 7 13:29 UTC 1997

Thyroid medication which many people have been prescribed
unnecessarily.  If you're overweight, tired, whatever, there's
an incompetent doctor somewhere who will prescribe the stuff
for you even if your thyroid tests are within normal limits.
I haven't heard about the lawsuit, but if it's the manufacturer
that's being sued (rather than all the incompetent physicians)
then I'd love to know why.

response 5 of 45:

Dec 7 17:01 UTC 1997

For complete information and a claim form, see 

          http://thyroid.miningco.com/bllawst.htm

The suit has to do with antitrust stuff.  The text makes it clear
that synthroid's safety and effectiveness are not at issue.

response 7 of 45:

Dec 8 01:46 UTC 1997

I suspect that it cost much more than $3, but that the U was either 
subsidizing it or giving it to you for cost.

I find it interesting that so many people seem to be taking this drug.

response 9 of 45:

Dec 8 15:33 UTC 1997

#3: It's the law of "deep pocket" -- manufacturer has deeper pockets than
    any doctor. 

Don't they have generics for Synthroid so you don't have to pay brand name
price?

response 13 of 45:

Dec 10 00:24 UTC 1997

Both of my grandmothers had thyroid trouble -- and all my maternal aunts
have had to have their thyroid glands removed because of tumours and goiters.
It was far from a surprise when I was diagnosed.  I thought I should have been
diagnosed 23 years earlier -- but doctors kept saying, in spite of my
symptoms, that my numbers were "low normal" and that they wouldn't prescribe
medication.  Within a couple of months of starting on synthroid, the symptoms
were gone.  I feel human for the first time in my life!

Maybe there are doctors who are too willing to prescribe synthroid -- but
there are certainly a lot of them who won't, even when the patient needs it.

response 15 of 45:

Dec 10 18:38 UTC 1997

Since someone asked: synthroid is synthetic thyroxine, one of the
thyroid gland hormones. It is the amino acid
3-[4-(4-hydroxy-3,5-diiodophenoxy)-3,5-diiodophenyl]alanine. It exerts
a stimulating effect on metabolism. Say the chemical name ten times fast and
you don't have to take as much... 8^}

response 17 of 45:

Dec 10 21:19 UTC 1997

I tsure seems like Class Action suits end up benefitting no one but the
lawyers.

response 19 of 45:

Dec 16 00:53 UTC 1997

Valerie: I have no idea where she gets it...I suspect through St. Joe's, since
that's whre she works...it very well might be with insurance, though...

response 21 of 45:

Dec 17 18:51 UTC 1997

for curiosity's sake, what kind of action/reaction is there from
a 'lazy' thyroid, or whatever..
  
#3 and #13 sorta hint at it.

response 23 of 45:

Dec 19 00:48 UTC 1997

Some symptoms of a lazy thyroid are dry, itchy skin, exhaustion and very low
energy levels, a tendency to gain weight of very little food, severe
difficulty regulating your body temperature (usually meaning you're cold. 
Very, very cold) hair loss, often a swelling of the thyroid gland as it
strives to produce more thyroid hormone, in women,m it may lead to
amenhorreah, and did I mention exhaustion?  I also got painfully tight muscles
in my legs, which no one seems to mention in the literature, but I think may
have been related since it eased within 6 weeks of starting meds after being
a problem for many years.