The Norman Parathyroid Center has put this Web site together to educate patients (and doctors) about the basics and the most recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of parathyroid disease and hyperparathyroidism. However, medicine and surgery are constantly changing sciences. This is one reason that we update this web site regularly! As new research and clinical experience broadens our knowledge, changes in treatment and drug therapy occur. In their efforts to provide the world's largest collection of parathyroid articles and to make sure that this information is complete, state-of-the-art, and generally in accord with the standards accepted at the time of publication, the authors of Parathyroid.com have checked with numerous sources believed to be reliable. However, in view of the possibility of human error or changes in medical sciences, neither the authors, Dr. Norman, Dr. Politz, Dr Lopez, the editorial board, nor any other physician or party who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this work warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they are not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. Readers of Parathyroid.com are encouraged to confirm the information contained herein with other sources and to seek the advice of a specialist in endocrinology or endocrine surgery if questions remain. The information contained within these pages is not meant to replace the examination or advice of your physician. This is educational material which does not cover every detail of each disorder discussed. Only your physician can make medical decisions and treatment plans which are appropriate for each individual. Issues like when to have surgery, your risks of surgery, your long-term osteoporosis needs, the type of anesthesia required, and many other factors should be addressed on an individual basis.

This is an educational web site. It does not intend to give advice, but is meant to inform and educate.

Throughout this web site, the risks of parathyroid disease are presented, just as the risks of parathyroid surgery are presented. Each patient is an individual and many factors will influence the risk of surgery including patient factors as well as surgeon factors like the experience of the surgeon in performing parathyroid surgery. Even the most experienced surgeons in the world cannot guarantee good outcomes, and this web site in no way intends to suggest that all operations performed by the most experienced parathyroid surgeons will be free of risk of complications. There is a potential for complications with all surgery, including ALL types of surgery performed for parathyroid disease and all surgeons (including Dr. Norman and Dr Politz) who operate on parathyroid glands. It is a fact, however, that the most experienced parathyroid surgeons have complication rates that are much less than surgeons who perform this operation infrequently. Drs Norman and Politz do not guarantee to cure every patient, nor do they guarantee that no complication will occur.

Choosing a parathyroid surgeon is an important decision.

The surgeons at the Norman Parathyroid Center cannot operate on every patient with parathyroid disease but we strongly encourage all patients to find an expert parathyroid surgeon. It is well known that parathyroid surgery performed by doctors who do few parathyroid operations often turns out poorly. For many patients, surgical expertise is not available in your local area, so traveling to a larger city or center of excellence is very common. This web site, like every other web site and every paper and/or book written about parathyroid surgery will state that an experienced surgeon is extremely important for a good outcome. We strongly encourage all patients to seek out the most experienced parathyroid surgery available to them. Many surgeons who are experts in parathyroid surgery do not perform parathyroid surgery in the same manner as Drs Norman and Politz. Some of these surgeons are good enough that Dr Norman would allow them to operate on him or his family. Like all operations, parathyroid surgery can be performed several ways. All patients are encouraged to discuss the type of parathyroid surgery their doctor will be doing, the anticipated cure rate, anticipated risks and complications, the type of anesthesia used, and how the doctor will know that the patient is cured at the conclusion of the operation. Patients should be comfortable with their choice of surgeon based on many factors, but clearly NOT based upon information gained from one web site. Choosing a surgeon is a very important decision. Do not hesitate to ask your surgeon very pointed questions... and this includes our doctors!

No doctor can guarantee a perfect outcome.

This sounds obvious, but it must be said. We do one thing, and we do it very well. However, we do not cure every patient that we operate on. We keep track of all patients we operate on, and we always know our cure rate... almost always about 99% or slightly higher. We believe this is the highest cure rate for parathyroid disease anywhere. However, we will never guarantee that we can fix every patient's problem. We take care of far more parathyroid patients than anybody in the world, and have done so for many years, but we are not perfect. We keep detailed statistics on all operations, operative findings, and patient outcomes. We publish our data in peer-reviewed medical journals on a regular basis. However we cannot guarantee that we will cure every patient. Sometimes we will tell a patient that we do not think an operation is in their best interest. If we tell you this, it is because we have the ability to compare your case against many thousands of others who have come before you, and who's pre-op labs, operative findings, and eventual outcomes are known. If we tell you that we don't want to operate on you, its because we think an operation is not in your best interest. This is extremely rare except if you have hyperparathyroidism, but of course, if we determine that you do not have hyperparathyroidism, we will tell you so. To become our patient, you must have a physician who can see you in follow up. The follow up is simple (check labs) and thus almost any doctor can do this, but you can't have an operation here and then go away and never have follow up somewhere else. You must have a doctor who will agree to see you after the operation to check your labs--although we will provide the order slip for the labs, and the labs will come to our office as well. All patients are given our surgeon's home and cell phone numbers. One of us will always be available to you and your doctor.

Patent protection.

Dr Norman is the holder of a handful of U.S. Patents, including the only patent for Minimally Invasive Radioguided Parathyroid Surgery (including but not limited to the technique, methodology, use, timing, pharmaceutical application, and parathyroid probe design and use). Unauthorized and/or unlicensed use of these technologies is strictly prohibited. US Patent # 6,263,232

Not withstanding the association of many of the Parathyroid.com contributing physicians to their employers or universities, including Dr. Norman's affiliation with any institution, hospital or employer, these employers/ universities/ institutions are not affiliated with Parathyroid.com in any respect. 

Privacy Policy

This web site does not collect information from any visitor. Cookies are not used at any time. We do not collect email addresses and any communication will not result in the retention of your information in any form. We do not keep a database of visitor information or any other statistics regarding the demographics or other attributes of users of this web site. There are opportunities to become a patient of the Norman Parathyroid Center, however, this occurs on two specific pages designed for this purpose. These two pages are hosted on a secure server at a secure location. You will know that you are entering your data on a secure web page and warnings will be given. This is a clear decision that you will make. These two pages are encrypted and secure and are clearly marked as such. These two pages have the logos and security certificates clearly visible. The information entered on these two secure pages is not accessible to anybody except the medical staff of the Norman Parathyroid Center. These two secure pages have been approved and meet all current 2008 standards for secure online medical information as established by the American Medical Association. Any email that a patient may send to Dr Norman or any other member of the Norman Parathyroid Center is not encrypted and the patients do so at their own risk. We do not ask for specific personal information via email and this is done either via phone, mail, fax, or via our two secure encrypted web forms. Emails are not encrypted and are not secure.

Research.

The physicians at the Norman Parathyroid Center are constantly engaged with ongoing research into many aspects of parathyroid disease. By becoming a patient you acknowledge that your medical records will likely be included with hundreds or thousands of other patients with parathyroid disease (hyperparathyroidism) and that specific aspects of your case will likely be examined. The purpose of this research is to allow for a better understanding of parathyroid disease and hyperparathyroidism, how it is diagnosed, and how best it can be treated. Your information will be studied only in the collective, along with many other patients. Specific studies of you as an individual will not be undertaken. No outside information will be requested as a part of these studies.

Your information will remain private and confidential at all times. You information will not be identifiable, and at no time will your information be examined as an individual, or in any way that would allow you to be identified. Your privacy is paramount and under no circumstances will be jeopardized. 

You have the right to have your medical information omitted from any research project, and this is done simply by email directly to Dr Norman, or to his nurse Kelly. 

All parts of this Web site are Copyright 1996-2011, including all photos, illustrations, graphics, navigation, and text. Patients and doctors can print these materials for educational purposes and are encouraged to do so.  However, NONE of the photos, illustrations, graphs, or text can be reprinted in book, pamphlet or booklet form, nor can the photos and text be published on any other Web site, Internet, Intranet, or otherwise reproduced without written consent from the Norman Parathyroid Center. This page was last updated 12/19/2011 .

Go To Home Page