The Problem w/ "2nd Opinions"....

You don't know which one is the correct one....I mean, if one doctor tells you that you have cancer and another doctor tells you that you don't, shouldn't you consult a third doctor for the tie-breaker?

That's what I've always said, or what if you go to 10 different doctors and they either all have a different opinion or give you an equal amount of two differen opinions? Of course I still wouldn't just blindly believe what the first doctor says.

You may have to go to a third doctor for a tie-breaker, or you may not, depending on what the second doctor says. For being well-educated, there's a large number of doctors who are total idiots. I think sometimes with second opinions, sometimes one will be just make more sense and also sit in your gut better than the other. It may have a lot to do with instinct.

Marc™ wrote:You don't know which one is the correct one....I mean, if one doctor tells you that you have cancer and another doctor tells you that you don't, shouldn't you consult a third doctor for the tie-breaker?

Of course. However, I think that's a scenerio that is highly unlikely based on the expertise or competence of the doctor. One doc telling you you have cancer and the other doc saying you don't would be 99.9999% based on a lab error.

I'd probably get a third opinion

Granted, getting two vastly different diagnosis is unlikely. But the thing for me is that I have seen two doctors differ vastly on course of treatment in more than one case.

I learned when I broke my neck how doctors can differ in course of treatment. The first surgeon wanted to cut my neck in front and back to do the surgery. The second surgeon would do it just cutting the back of my neck. Also, the first wanted to use donor bone, and the second my own, taken from my hip.

The thing is to not let the second know he is the second. That way when they say their course, you can say what you were already told to gauge how confident they are in what they said.

Marc™ wrote:You don't know which one is the correct one....I mean, if one doctor tells you that you have cancer and another doctor tells you that you don't, shouldn't you consult a third doctor for the tie-breaker?

The doctor who says you don't has to come up with some explanation for what is actually wrong or he or she is just wasting your time. Then it probably would take a third to figure out what is going on.