We were dismayed in reading in the Clinical Notes section of the Archives that Pinczower and coworkers1 from the University of Washington, Seattle, had suggested that thyroid scanning be performed in all patients with thyroglossal duct cysts. With all due respect, there are several things that we do not agree with in this article. The first is that the conclusion of the article is based on the outcome of two malpractice cases that were decided against physicians for removing the only remaining functioning thyroid tissue. We do not have any details on these particular cases, which were decided against the physicians, and we do not know the circumstances involved. We would disagree that if parents are given informed consent in this instance, that a case should be decided against a physician for that reason alone.
Therefore, simply because two adverse cases have been decided, we do not think that