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I got a huge number of thoughtful responses (and one jerk
responded with "get a life"). It seems that a lot of people have had
similar frustrations.

Here is a very brief summary of some responses:

Of those who took a stand on "To get a biopsy or not, that
is the question...", the response was about

80% don't bother
20% do get a biopsy

Paraphrasing a few pro arguments:
"If you don't, everyone will always have doubts"
"May be useful if you ever need long-term care"
"Can get brand-name (known to be gulten-free) instead of generic drugs"
"Need it to get tax deduction"
"I felt OK for 6 months and now I feel bad again, so I wish
   I'd had a biopsy"
"After a positive biopsy you will get better follow-up care
   and it will be easier to get your kids checked, etc."

My favorite pro response was

"You can tell your doctors `I told you so' "

On the con side, the argument generally ran something like
"Why make yourself sick to have an invasive test done that
they will probably screw up anyway...", often including personal
horror stories of botched biopsy attempts.

or

"I never had a biopsy and I've been doing well gluten-free
for the last x years"

One person said that they did not want a positive biopsy for
fear of difficulty getting insurance (something I would never
have thought about).

Another person suggested that I ask my HMO for a referral to
a doctor who is experienced with celiac. Since there
are very good (by all accounts) celiac doctors in Baltimore
(20 miles away from my home), I think this is the advice I will
follow. In spite of the overwhelming response in favor of
no biopsy, if I can get a competent doctor to perform it,
I will go for it. And not just to tell all of those boneheaded
doctors "I told you so" (though I have to admit I'd enjoy
that a lot).

Thanks again for all of the responses.

Mark Stamp