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Thyroid Therapy on Trial in Canada: Canadian Court Orders College of Physicians & Surgeons to Investigate Thyroid Treatment | |
Source: Breast Iodine Thyroid Effectiveness Society (BITES)
July 2002 -- Dr. David Derry may have his medical license and thyroid prescribing privileges reinstated by September 30, 2002.
The College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia removed the thyroid prescribing privileges of the internationally recognized Victoria, Canada doctor on November 2, 2001, and his medical license on June 11 of this 2002. However, at the end of a two-day Supreme Court hearing in Victoria on June 24 and 25, Justice Pitfield ordered the College to hold a full investigation into Dr. Derry's practices by September 30, 2002. If the College does not carry out this investigation, the suspension of Dr. Derry's license and thyroid prescribing privileges will expire on that date.
Background
Dr. Derry believes that the TSH test should be scrapped as a diagnosis tool for hypothyroidism, and that natural, desiccated thyroid with both T4 and T3 hormones is superior to synthetic T4 only. As he said in a June 17 TV interview, "It's just going back to the way I was taught."
His July 2000 interview with Mary Shomon and discussions in the Thyroid.about.com forums about his treatment resulted in patients with hypothyroidism coming to see him from all over North America, at an average of about two new patients per day.
The College began an investigation of Dr. Derry in July 2001, after an endocrinologist whose patient had left him to be treated by Dr. Derry complained to the College. The College investigators looked in patients' files removed from Dr. Derry's office without permission and refused to talk to patients. About 50 supporters came to the College in Vancouver for the October 31, 2001 hearing to determine Dr. Derry's right to prescribe thyroid medication, but they were not allowed to attend the hearing or present their views. On November 2, 2002, the College removed his thyroid prescribing privileges.
At a December 18 Supreme Court hearing, the lawyer for the College, David Martin, promised a different judge, Justice Melvin, that the College would give Dr. Derry a full hearing "early in the new year." This promise was the reason that Justice Melvin declined to lift the ban on Dr. Derry's right to prescribe thyroid medication.
| Dr. Derry has been featured here at the About.com thyroid site numerous times: |
However, the College investigators did not take any steps regarding their promise, and in fact refused to look at the material Dr. Derry presented to them on one of their visits to his office. Instead, they looked through more of Dr. Derry's patients' files, apparently without the patients' permission, said that his non-thyroid-related treatment of two patients who had died had caused their death, and suspended his medical license effective June 11, 2002.
In the June 24 and 25 Supreme Court hearing, Justice Pitfield noted that the timing of this suspension was related to the fact that the investigating committee could not meet in July or August due to its members' vacation plans. David Martin told the judge that the College's Executive Council would not normally meet again until late September.
The failure of the College to hold this investigation, and the position that the College's actions had left Dr. Derry in, were among the reasons for Justice Pitfield's order.
He chastised the College for not exercising its public trust function in a timely manner, and for leaving Dr. Derry at the mercy of the College's agenda. He emphasized that he wanted the investigation into Dr. Derry's practice, including his thyroid prescribing, to be concluded by September 30, 2002, or the temporary suspension of his license will be ended and his license to practice medicine will be automatically restored.
What the Decision Means
"It's a big step for physicians' rights," said Dr. Derry.
The outcome of this Appeal is unprecedented. Never before in Canada has a College of Physicians been ordered by a Supreme Court judge to fully investigate a treatment modality and pronounce on its efficacy and safety if it proposes to take away a physician's right to practice medicine. The College's actions will now be under the Court's scrutiny. While deferring to the College's expertise to evaluate a physician's competency, the Court has made it plain that evaluation of a physician's competency must be done within the rules of fairness and natural justice. If not, the College's rulings will be set aside.
Not only is the court decision a great victory for Dr. Derry, but it's also a victory for patients' rights to choose the therapies that they prefer, and for physicians who practice complementary and non-traditional medicine.
This court victory gives Dr. Derry the opportunity to present evidence from his extensive library showing that his method of treating hypothyroidism is proven to be safe and effective. He can also bring in other thyroid experts from various parts of the world to testify as witnesses about this treatment. Thyroid therapy is on trial, and it is finally getting attention. The outcome of this investigation may be written up in medical journals and elsewhere, and it will provide material that thyroid patients can bring to their doctors to seek more effective treatment.
How You Can Help
If you would like to participate, you can contribute to the legal defense fund for Dr. Derry. If you are a patient with hypothyroidism for whom mainstream treatment doesn't work, or if you had or are having difficulty getting a diagnosis because of doctors' acceptance of TSH test results, this defense is for you too. Details on how to contribute are featured on the Legal Fund page of the Breast Iodine Thyroid Effectiveness Society. Your contribution will make a difference
For More Information
For more information on Dr. Derry, see the following links at the Breast Iodine Thyroid Effectiveness Society (BITES) site:
