Why you should get a second opinion about your medical condition
THE value of a second opinion in matters of health should never be ignored. When your doctor prescribes drugs; gives you a diagnosis, especially of something life-threatening; or suggests that you need to undergo a life-threatening procedure, ask questions. Because even doctors make mistakes, and getting a second opinion means that you’re in control of your health.
“Getting a second option gives the patient access to clinicians more experienced in a particular field and also gives less experienced doctors a chance to learn from the exposure. The scope of medicine is wide and vast and it’s impossible to know everything,” said Dr Sean Milton of the St Catherine Health Department.
He said that patients should not kill their gut instinct — the desire to ask for a second opinion — simply because they have established a relationship of trust with their doctors.
A recent study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in a study of 6,000 cancer patients, found that one to two of every 100 patients who sought a second opinion after a tumour biopsy had received a wrong initial diagnosis.
Dr Milton also alluded to a doctor’s uncertainty about a diagnosis, when a doctor does not appear or speak in a a way that suggests that he is versed on the topic, or even knows enough about the condition to educate you on caring for yourself and your illness adequately, as instances when red flags should go up.
In these instances, don’t shy away from asking your doctor to even recommend another physician for a second opinion.
“You could ask your own physician to recommend someone, especially if they are not a specialist in the field that the diagnosis was made,” Dr Milton said.
He said while sound principle and clinical guidelines are an important part of medical practice, they are just that, guidelines. Doctors should therefore never make their patients feel uncomfortable about requesting such.
