There's no surprise that patients and doctors would disagree about the incidence rate of hypothyroid symptoms in a given patient. "We have an average of 7.2 symptoms per patient" says the cohort of 262 patients. "No, you have an average of 4.0 symptoms per patient," says the cohort of 100 doctors about those 262 patients. … Continue reading Discordance in thyroid symptoms reported by patients and their doctors
In this Part 3, I continue my rebuttal of a research article that blames thyroid patients for causing harm to themselves by making requests of doctors for tests and therapies. In this post, I explain the good signs that thyroid patients' self-advocacy is sometimes effective and is making a difference.
In this Part 2, I continue my rebuttal of a research article that blames thyroid patients for causing harm to themselves by making requests of doctors for tests and therapies. In this post, I provide a fictional dialogue among three of the authors to illustrate their thought process. I then illustrate how the "barriers" are … Continue reading Thyroid patient blaming and shaming, part 2: True barriers
Some members of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) have achieved a new ethical low. The ATA have published in their official scientific journal, Thyroid, an article by Esfandiari and colleagues (2019) that blames thyroid patients for causing harm to themselves by making requests of doctors for tests and therapies. They titled their paper "Patient Requests … Continue reading 2019 ATA article engages in patient-blaming and doctor-shaming
Clinical guidelines are supposed to promote patient health and encourage evidence-based medicine and physician discernment, but thyroid guidelines aim to restrict testing, restrict medication, and prevent any change in therapy practices. Indeed, the enforcement of restrictions appears to be the main purpose of local and international thyroid therapy guidelines today. These thyroid therapy guidelines, and … Continue reading How thyroid guidelines are being used to punish doctors
