This week (as of October 4, 2019), a thyroid patient from British Columbia posted an image of a piece of paper handed to her at a LifeLabs laboratory. LifeLabs BC was using this paper leaflet to explain to her why "Free T3 and Free T4 will not be tested when the TSH is in reference … Continue reading LifeLabs BC handout reveals thyroid testing policy failure
In my previous post, I discussed the statement of the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM) response to thyroid patients' concerns, dated April 8th, 2019. There, I showed that the minor edit of adding a clause about central hypothyroidism is not really an update to the guidelines, which already acknowledged this exception. The document … Continue reading CSEM attempts to dialogue with thyroid patients, April 8, 2019
Someone asked for more info on the guidelines in British Columbia (BC) to prevent FT3 and FT4 testing, so I supply links and summaries of policies here. These barriers became active in BC health policy October 2018, they were being enforced by physicians and laboratories in January 2019, according to posts on our support group. … Continue reading Forbidding FT3 and FT4 in British Columbia as of late 2018
Our thyroid patient campaign's researcher submitted a proposal to speak at the Choosing Wisely national conference in Montreal in May 2019. A second thyroid patient was willing to fund the researcher's trip from Western Canada. A third thyroid patient put the researcher in contact with a thyroid doctor who was willing to support such educational … Continue reading Choosing Wisely chooses not to hear thyroid patient’s research presentation
The "Choosing Wisely Canada" toolkit promoting limitation of Free T3 and Free T4 testing has been the food for some meme refutations. Choosing Wisely Canada. (n.d.). Toolkit: Less is More with T3 & T4. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://choosingwiselycanada.org/perspective/toolkit-t4-t3/ Recently, we've focused on their Table 2 which outlines situations they recommend NOT to order … Continue reading MEMES: Against Table 2 in the “Choosing Wisely Canada” T3 & T4 toolkit
