Ethical Considerations When Counseling Patients With Thyroid Cancer About Surgery vs Observation.

In a recent Viewpoint, Stack and Angelos remind physicians about ethical obligations to outline risks, benefits, and alternatives of all treatment options to patients. Discussing the option of observation for papillary microcarcinoma (PMC), the authors assert that “this approach is not the standard of care in the United States,”(p957) and, if considered, should only be offered under an institutional review board-approved research protocol or if patients sign a “surveillance contract.”