Completely off topic but might occur in some families i.e. dementia

[shaws]

I have come across this statement. I wonder if it would cause some people to be misdiagnosed?

bbc.co.uk/news/health-29718618

The doctor on the link states:

Dr Brian Hope: "I don't think for one minute ..[people] would make a false diagnosis in order to earn £55"

More to the point, I think the fact that if a patient was given a diagnosis of dementia by a GP how would that affect the person and their family if a mistake was made? The patient could just have a problem due to T3 deficiency.

Mind you. thousands who have a dysfunctional thyroid gland may remain undiagnosed and of that we are sure.

[Mary76mary76]

One of my signs of being low with my hypothyroid is confusion, which goes away when I increase my levothyroxine. Luckily I have my daughter looking for signs of confusion creeping up on me. I do wonder if hypothyroidism is being fully investigated first ie low t3 etc. before diagnosis of dementia?

[shaws in reply to Mary76mary76]

Probably not! I had to diagnose myself with hypo despite my TSH rising to 100 and being told there was nothing wrong.

I have put my journey on my 'page'.

[Mary76mary76 in reply to shaws]

Thank you for your story, very helpful but so sad but totally believable to anybody with thyroid issues.

[greygoose]

Dr Brian Hope: "I don't think for one minute ..[people] would make a false diagnosis in order to earn £55"

Doesn't know much about human nature, does he.

[TSH110 in reply to greygoose]

Perhaps he was being ironic?

[greygoose in reply to TSH110]

I wouldn't count on it.

[Zephyrbear]

I’m assuming you’re aware that this is a report that came out on 22 October 2014 and so this “payment for diagnosing dementia” has already been common practice for almost 7 years!

[shaws in reply to Zephyrbear]

No, I didn't realise it was from Oct 2014, therefore, how many people have been properly diagnosed? Some of whom who may not have it but it is on their medical records.

If they go to GPs/hospitals and this is on their medical records will the patient be treated properly or assumed to not understand what's going on around them.

Why would a payment be made to the doctor who confirmed this diagnosis?

[Zephyrbear in reply to shaws]

Call me a cynic, but why would a special payment be made to a GP for diagnosing ANY condition? Surely that would incentivise the GPs to ‘diagnose’ wrongly just to make an extra buck? Hence you have a diagnosis of dementia or depression or CFS or fibromyalgia or anything instead of a proper diagnosis of hypothyroidism until the poor patient is down on their knees with a TSH of 10 or more before finally getting there… In the meantime, the GP has racked up quite a little nest egg by getting paid for all these different diagnoses!

[shaws in reply to Zephyrbear]

I actually think that it is the pharma company who want to give an incentive so that their profits rise. This is a link with a couple of excerpts. It could be another country rather than the UK:-

propublica.org/article/doct...

"Pharmaceutical companies have paid doctors billions of dollars for consulting, promotional talks, meals and more. A new ProPublica analysis finds doctors who received payments linked to specific drugs prescribed more of those drugs."

p.s. I had to diagnose myself. No doctor/consultant/medical person could. By that time TSH was 100 and told 5 minutes before by a GP who phoned that there was nothing at all wrong with me. I cried as I was so very unwell and couldn't get out of bed.

[Zephyrbear in reply to shaws]

Unbelievable! I was a little luckier to be diagnosed by an older doctor who’d probably come across Hashimoto’s before… but it was still approximately 10 years after I started suspecting there might be something wrong. TSH has an awful lot to answer for!

[TSH110 in reply to shaws]

Dear god and I thought I had it bad - at least my GP got serious once I explained my dire situation - good job I would not have pulled through otherwise. It’s frightening to think this is happening in the modern era

[Gingernut44]

Is it the case that GPs/Practices get payment for prescribing statins and antidepressants?

[shaws in reply to Gingernut44]

Nothing surprises me any more especially when one told me that T3 converts to T4 and 'your T4 is low'. I said, I do not take T4, so that's the reason it is low. I take T3 only. But, says he "T3 converts to T4". "No doctor that's incorrect".

[TSH110 in reply to Gingernut44]

I understand that they do.

[Gingernut44 in reply to TSH110]

It’s an absolute disgrace that GP Surgeries are given any incentive to prescribe whatever the drug

[TSH110 in reply to Gingernut44]

I quite agree but corruption in different guises is nothing new. A relative who was a dispensing chemist and ran a large department told us he received all sorts of “gifts” from drug companies that were nothing more than bribes to sell their stuff. He thought it immoral but I don’t think he sent them back. He trained in the days when a dispensing chemist actually made up the prescription from the raw materials. He retrained as an optician because he said it had become just counting out pills.

[Gingernut44 in reply to TSH110]

Also, in the good old days, GPs actually looked at and listened to their patients unlike now - if the computer says “NO”, there’s nothing wrong with you 😊

[TSH110 in reply to Gingernut44]

It’s darn hard to find one that’s not a slave to all that technology, which seems to put barriers and unnecessary complexities in the way of us getting the treatment we actually need. I hope there will be a swing back to listening and aiming to alleviate suffering by taking notice of what the person with the problems has to say about how they feel. It’s so simple it seems crazy to have all these ridiculous layers of obfuscation keeping us ill. If they just brought back NDT and dosing by symptoms that would help a lot of us regain our lives. But where’s the power trip in that?

[userotc]

All this is no surprise to me. The thing that surprises me is why most rely on medics for an accurate/independent diagnosis! Here in the UK, it may be cost as medics are considered to be "free" though we know they're not really. But would you see an (apparently) free car mechanic that is likely to misdiagnose your car's condition?

I wouldnt but then I personally wouldn't see a medic for health diagnosis and advice (based on past experiences) - I'd see a naturopath instead. At least you might get somewhere legally if they misdiagnose/mistreat whereas NHS medics are bullet-proof. I know cos we've tried that.