Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether liothyronine should be declassified as a high-cost medicine following the Competition and Markets Authority ruling and fine issued to Advanz for artificially inflating the price of thyroid tablets.

National Health Service clinical commissioners have promoted national guidance through their bulletins with clinical commissioning groups members. National guidance recommends that in circumstances where levothyroxine has failed, endocrinologists providing NHS services may recommend liothyronine for individual patients after a carefully audited trial of liothyronine for at least three months duration.

We have made no assessment on whether liothyronine should be de-classified as a high cost medicine. To date, NHS England NHS Improvement have not conducted any specific assessments on liothyronine following the Competition and Markets Authority ruling. This will be considered as part of any formal review to national guidance.