KEY POINTS:
A couple of weeks ago, a woman rang my radio talkback show.
She said she was experiencing horrible side effects from a thyroid drug she'd been prescribed and wondered if anyone else was suffering adverse reactions.
She had been assured by her doctor and pharmacist that the nausea and headaches and pain she was feeling couldn't possibly be caused by the pills.
The manufacturers had changed factories, but the medicine was being produced to the same formula.
Still, she said, she couldn't help wondering if the pills were to blame.
Within minutes, we were swamped with calls.
For the next two hours caller after caller described the same symptoms and for many, the same head-in-the-sand response from their doctors.
Some were told the pain they were experiencing was all in their heads.
Other women were told they were "making it up" and that because the pills looked different, they assumed they would feel different and that's why they were experiencing pain.
But thousands of people can't all be wrong.
Given the overwhelming numbers of complaints, Pharmac and Medsafe have resolved to fast-track an alternative version of Eltroxin.
The Health Minister David Cunliffe, in a press release containing a staggering number of cliches, says a proactive approach is being taken by the Government health bodies.
Both agencies have taken on board the concerns raised, and the minister is pleased that there is a way forward.
I hope the doctors and pharmacists who ignored the complaints of their patients have also taken on board the concerns raised, and that they won't be quite so cavalier and patronising next time a patient complains of side effects from a prescribed drug.
Taking the word of a drug company over the concerns of a patient is probably not best practice.
