In my opinion, there are two forms of medical practice. The first is to do the ‘right-thing’ as per recommendations of guidelines, evidence and long-term patient benefit. The second practice is to speak ‘What the patient wants to hear’. In this article, I have explored the strange dilemma of medical practice. An example Thyroid nodules are common. Often they are incidentally detected. Most of these thyroid nodules are benign and do not require surgery.
However, in some cases, thyroid nodule DO NEED surgery, especially if the FNAC or Core-needle biopsy suggests malignancy or suspicion of malignancy. Almost a year back, an anxious young female came to me with a thyroid nodule. She had consulted a couple of surgeons before, most of whom told her to undergo surgery. Then someone suggested she meet an Endocrinologist. We repeated her ultrasound and ordered an FNAC. The ultrasound was…
