Oh, and a postscript.

Gordon Skinner wrote a book: Diagnosis and Management of Hypothyroidism

It's digressive, irreverent, and gloriously politically incorrect. I love it, but I recognise a certain British sense of self-deprecating humour which will not go down terribly well with everyone.

In my reading of it, he is full of self-doubt, and finds the behaviour of his own profession ridiculous and is hiding behind his jokes and raw language.

He describes many years of treating hypothyoidism by its symptoms, pretty much ignoring lab tests. As he describes it, it is quite hard to get wrong, and the major danger is missing other diseases, which also don't show up on the standard tests.

He claims to get hundreds of patients every year, and he doesn't report many cases where he got it wrong.

Now, this man is right, or he is completely deluded, or he is lying.

I find it impossible to imagine what his motive for lying might be.

Towards the end of his career and life, apparently, the GMC decided to make an example of him, and ordered him never again to prescribe thyroid hormones without the consent of an endocrinologist.

Can anyone find out why they did this? Did they have any good reason?

He appears to have spent the rest of his life advising various internet thyroid support groups, and campaigning against the TSH test.

Gordon Skinner died in 2013.

Here is what some thyroid internet loonies wrote as his obituary:

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2013/11/28/gordon-skinner/

What was he, people? Saint or madman? I think he has to have been one or the other.