Thyroid Patient Advocacy: Real Solutions for Real Suffering

THYROID PATIENT ADVOCACY (TPA) is an independent, user-led, organisation established to ensure that all thyroid disease sufferers are given a correct diagnosis and receive effective treatment. TPA believes that all patients should have access to all relevant tests and treatment, including synthetic or natural T3. On 27th October, 2010, Thyroid Patient Advocacy was registered as a Charitable Trust with the Charity Commission in the UK. (No. 1138608)

TPA campaigns for better education in diagnostics and treatment and provides extensive support and guidance for all sufferers.

TPA is managed by a group of dedicated thyroid patients who volunteer their services freely. This web site, the TPA-UK Information Pack and the Internet discussion forum is available to all and will help patients and doctors develop greater knowledge and understanding about the illness, will advise on reliable diagnostic tests, and recommend where to obtain proper, effective treatment.

In TPA's efforts, the following critical questions are being asked but remain unanswered:

WHY do the GMC, the RCP, the BTA et al. deliberately choose to ignore the scientific evidence that has been available for over 40 years ?
WHY does the British Thyroid Association refuse to reduce its top TSH limit - due to iodine deficiency in the UK, to bring us in line with Germany?
WHY are medical associations ignoring the 13% failure rate of T4-only therapy for the past 50 years? Why are patient's complaints dismissed?
WHY has there been no correction to the RCP statement when there are patients who are counterexamples to the validity of T4-only therapy?
WHY is the confusion of two definitions for ‘hypothyroidism allowed to continue?
WHY are guideline authorship and concise guidance to good practice protocols ignored?
WHY are individual symptoms of hypothyroidism stated to be “non-specific” when Baisier found groups of these symptoms may be quite specific?
WHAT further investigations for non-thyroidal causes are recommended as relevant to the symptoms of hypothyroidism when pituitary and thyroid GLAND function tests are biochemically normal – Levels of fT3, rT3 and adrenal levels?
WHY are the studies by Das (2007) and Lewis (2008), which found that patients could be successfully treated with thyroid extract being ignored?
WHY is medicine ignoring false negative test results?
WHY do doctors refuse to explain and/or justify their decisions, thereby withholding information necessary for valid consent to treatment?
WHY does the NHS refuse to take steps to protect human rights when sufferers are put at risk through a disregard of the demand that patients should be treated with fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy?
WHY are laboratory discrepancies in serum testing being ignored?

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they
fight you, then you win." —Mahatma Gandhi

Send this letter to your MP to lobby for a public enquiry into the RCP, BTA, their guidelines and statements (Word 2003 document)

This letter is being sent to many UK hypothyroid patients throughout the UK to enable us all to lobby the Government for change and to persuade them to look to a public enquiry into the RCP, BTA and their guidelines and statements. You can this letter to your MP. Simply add your MPs name as well as your name and contact details and print it out.

IMPORTANT READING The Greater Thyroid System - Information for Your Doctor

Many patients are being denied adequate relief from the symptoms of hypothyroidism because less than half of the greater thyroid system is being considered by physicians. And even that half are not fully tested if the thyroid-stimulating hormone is normal. This chart illustrates the flow through this system starting at the top of the chart with signals from your brain to the bottom of the chart where the symptoms are sensed.

Yet another case of grievous bodily harm

Thyroid Patient Advocacy wishes to respond to an article published in the British Thyroid Foundation (BTF) Spring 2010 Newsletter on behalf of the tens of thousands of UK patients who are being left to suffer the symptoms of hypothyroidism so unnecessarily. We are responding because we do not feel the lady (CR) in this “Case Study” has been given the care she deserves nor was the British Thyroid Association's (BTA) Medical Advisor was helpful with his response.