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Mary Shomon

Endos Issue Statement on Perchlorate

By , About.com GuideFebruary 24, 2004

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Their big conclusion? "Perchlorate levels in water within the interim EPA guidelines of 4-18 ppb do not appear to be associated with any significant impairment of thyroid gland function in adults." Is it another cop-out by the endocrinology community? I think so... Click here for my comments on this statement
  • Read entire ATA statement
  • Search for more of my coverage of perchlorate and its impact on the thyroid
  • Visit activist Larry Ladd's Perchlorate.org site, a source of reliable, consumer-oriented information

    Mary's Commentary

    The fact that the American Thyroid Association has even mentioned perchlorate -- even though they dismiss it for the most part in their statement -- is better than not acknowledging it at all.

    But the fact that they are dismissing concerns for the most part is par for the course.

    These are the same folks who went to bat for Synthroid when it was under question by the FDA, and even went so far as to pay to disseminate a press release saying that they "supported" Synthroid, despite the fact that the FDA had found that it was having problems with stability/potency, and hadn't met the FDA's own deadlines for new drug application.

    Does that show concern for patients? Reeks of conflict of interest to me......especially since they get big bucks from Boots/Knoll/Abbott/whoever is making Synthroid this week!

    These are the folks whose various endocrinologist members also regularly announce how "easy it is to diagnose and treat thyroid disease" to anyone who will listen.

    I know they have to be slaves to scientific method, and don't believe anything until it's published as a double-blind, peer-reviewed research study in major medical journals. I know that they can't actually express any significant concern about perchlorate until it's a headline story in the Journal of the American Medical Association or the New England Journal of Medicine. And I wish it weren't so. It's too bad that this rigid way of viewing science is the dominant paradigm in today's medicine.

    But they don't have to issue press releases supporting Synthroid, or saying how easy it all is to diagnose and treat. That shows how out of touch they are with their patient base, and also happens to match up 100% with the Synthroid marketing message... Coincidence? Something to ponder...



    FOR MORE INFORMATION
  • Read entire ATA statement
  • Search for more of my coverage of perchlorate and its impact on the thyroid
  • Visit activist Larry Ladd's Perchlorate.org site, a source of reliable, consumer-oriented information
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