Unfortunately, hypothyroid patients worldwide have had to find out the hard way that western medicine had completely failed them for decades, leaving them compromised or made to feel crazy. Patients have been put on a medication that has left millions with continued hypothyroid symptoms, whether from the beginning, or the longer they stay on the meds. They have also been held hostage to one of the lousiest lab tests ever invented to diagnose or treat by: the TSH lab test. So Janie Bowthorpe started a discussion among patients worldwide beginning in 2002, which lead to the Stop the Thyroid Madness website, the books, the Facebook pages, and multiple patient discussion groups--all based on reported patient experiences on getting well again to help empower patients.