Members' Business - Elaine Smith MSP: Thyroid Patients Deserve Fair Treatment

That the Parliament notes petition PE 01463, which has been under consideration by the Public Petitions Committee since 2012 and highlights the problems with inadequate diagnosis and treatment of thyroid conditions; understands that at least 2% of the population will suffer from hypothyroidism in their lifetime, with some doctors believing that the rate is much higher; recognises that the chronic condition affects mainly women (95%); accepts that, in the 1980s, the standard treatment of Dessicated Thyroid Hormone (DTH) was replaced by synthetic thyroxine (T4); notes that T4 is a prohormone that must be converted to T3 (liothyronine), which is the biologically active hormone; understands that the Royal College of Physicians officially recognises that 5 to 10% of patients on T4 do not do well, a figure believed to be substantially higher by others in the thyroid field; takes account of the fact that many patients are wholly reliant on T3 or combination therapy for health and wellbeing; expresses concern that some health boards, including NHS Lanarkshire, are, it believes, issuing controversial guidelines that imply that GPs can no longer prescribe T3; considers any such instruction to be a breach of their duty of care to those relying on T3 to live, discriminatory in terms of gender and potentially in breach of Article 2 and Article 14 Protocol 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and notes calls for health boards to ensure that patients continue to receive T3.