American Thyroid Association Releases New Guidelines on Ethics

The American Thyroid Association has recently released new guidelines on ethnics that are especially important to issues and dilemmas regarding patient care, scarcity of resources and conflicts of interest.

M. Sara Rosenthal, et al, for the American Thyroid Association Ethics Advisory Committee, present guidelines regarding clear guidance on ethical dilemmas and questions that surround this unique subspeciality.

"These detailed guidelines, written by an interdisciplinary group of experts in thyroidology, endocrine surgery, and ethics, offer guidance for ethical questions in the clinical and the research realm. Moreover, they address important issues surrounding conflicts of interest and resource allocations," Peter A. Kopp, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Thyroid said, via a press release.

"We owe our thanks to Dr. Glenn Braunstein, Chair, as well as to the members of the ATA Ethics Advisory Committee, who worked diligently to produce these very fine guidelines for ethical dilemmas in endocrine practice," Hossein Gharib, MD, President of the ATA, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, added, via the release. "In current practice, highly sensitive to issues of multiplicity of interest, these recommendations are both timely and welcome."

Many clinical ethics dilemmas surround thyroid disease, including patient care setting, innovative therapies, role of institutional review boards, drug shortages and data-sharing integrity issues.

A large amount of changes will also come into effect due to The Affordable Care Act as thyroid practitioners may find themselves living in a new clinical landscape that involves numerous changes regarding allocation decisions.

Many of the ethical guidelines involve (I.) Professional Ethical Duties to Patients (II.) Clinical Ethical Duties and Considerations (III.) Ethical Considerations Associated with Research in Thyroidology (IV.) Industry Relationships and Conflicts of Interest (V.) Ethical Considerations Regarding Resource Allocation, Responsible stewardship, and Whistle Blowing in Thyroidology.

For more information regarding the guidelines, click here. 

WebMD lists many problems that can result from hyperthyroidism, a condition in which an overproduction of thyroid hormones can create serious health issues.

For a list of problems, including symptoms, diseases, disorders and treatments, click here.