Doctors vs Labs on TSH Results

[Barb135]

One thing I have been thinking about a lot recently, is that we all, myself included, complain about doctors not getting on with the new TSH standard - when it is actually the labs that need to make the changes, isn't it?  Whenever I'm in my doctors' office, he's looking at the lab report and comparing MY result to the range that's printed, which tells me that he's going by the reference ranges that the lab uses and as long as my results fall in that range, I'm "normal", so as long as the labs continue to use the obsolete values, the doctors (at least MINE) will too.  

I work in the potable water quality and waste treatment business and I know that labs testing water and/or wastewater have to be certified by the State in certain methods of testing and they have to be able to get the results below certain limits or they will not be able to maintain their certification.  They also have to prove on a regular basis that they are following the designated protocol and maintaining proper standards or they will lose their certification.  There are only certain methods that can be used for testing certain parameters and both the lower and upper limits are set by EPA/DEP.  For instance, if an EPA minimum detection limit (MDL) is 0.05, the lab has to be able to detect AT LEAST that low, meaning the lab's MDL can't be 0.15 or anything lower than that would not have a specific result.........

Is this not true for medical labs, as well????  Is there not a governing agency that certifies labs and tells them what methods they can use for certain tests and what ranges they must use for reference?  I know that there are probably a lot of different methods of running the same test (let's just use TSH as an example), but shouldn't they all be required to use a standard reference range?   If not, this is a very scary thing!!!  To think that I am held to stricter standards on drinking water issues than a lab that is assisting doctors to make medical decisions ----- maybe it's no wonder we all have so much trouble.  And if there isn't a specific reference range for each parameter, shouldn't there be?  

I'm sure there are members here who are very familiar with this issue and I certainly don't mean to step on anyone's toes........I know there are probably several different methods of performing each of the various tests, but I'm just wondering why labs are allowed to use so many different reference ranges, when it seems that there SHOULD be specific ranges that are uniform from lab to lab........

[Barb135]

Thank you - just can't stop thinking about MY doctor sitting there looking at the lab report, saying, "well, according to the labs, we need to cut back on your med" and I'm screaming inside "NO, please don't do that".................

[peggy64]

Very good point.