There are tons of other problems that won't cause death but nonetheless will bother you or subtly impact QOL without you even knowing. Thyroid issues are one. It won't save your life but it will make it a lot more enjoyable and maybe make you more productive too. There are other causes of death too.. so the conclusions they are trying to draw seem completely invalid to me. The study showed equal mortality from 2 sources, it did not show that checkups are pointless..
A lot of the complaints about unnecessary follow-up etc. are down to cost not inconvenience. In most cases, the only follow up is a blood test which is quick and easy. Even a ultrasound/CT is like 1hr. It only becomes a problem when you have to pay $1000s for it.
Whole article is just a gross misrepresentation.