Synthroid is the brand name used by Abbott Laboratories for levothyroxine sodium (T4, a synthetic thyroid hormone) product. Levothyroxine is the basic T4 thyroid hormone responsible for metabolism. Patients who suffer from hypothyroidism, either for endogenous disease or after radioactive iodine ablation or thyroid resection, require exogenous thyroid hormone, and Synthroid is the most prescribed brand of T4. Synthroid was marketed in 1955, but w...
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Synthroid is the brand name used by Abbott Laboratories for levothyroxine sodium (T4, a synthetic thyroid hormone) product. Levothyroxine is the basic T4 thyroid hormone responsible for metabolism. Patients who suffer from hypothyroidism, either for endogenous disease or after radioactive iodine ablation or thyroid resection, require exogenous thyroid hormone, and Synthroid is the most prescribed brand of T4. Synthroid was marketed in 1955, but was not FDA approved at that time as it was considered "generally regarded safe". In the 1990s, in response to various complaints, all levothyroxine preparations were required to undergo the formal FDA approval process. Synthroid was approved by the FDA on 2002-07-24.
It should be noted that Synthroid was not the first T4 drug produced for patients, and there are numerous generic versions approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but there is great variation in uniformity of production and regularity of therapeutic action among different...
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