When someone tells you to get a second opinion after you go to the doctor, do you feel rather bad about it? Do you feel like you’re betraying your own doctor’s trust? Or do you think that it is just a waste of time?
Don’t worry about any of that. Just worry about your health. That’s what matters. Much of the time, that means you should get a second opinion.
Let one woman’s story serve as an example. She had a mole on her skin that bothered her. She worried that it might be cancer. She went to a doctor and asked them what they thought. They told her it was nothing to worry about that she was fine.
She decided to follow that up by seeing another medical professional. That person correctly realized it was a type of skin cancer that was very rare. She had to have surgery to remove it. In the end, she realized that she needed to trust her gut because she could not trust her doctor to be perfect.
All told, that’s a fairly positive ending to her story. She got the help she needed. Not everyone is so lucky. Mistakes like this can have drastic ramifications and may even be fatal in some cases.
If your doctor is negligent and it leads to harm, you have to know all of your legal rights. You may be able to seek compensation for additional medical bills, lost wages, disabilities, health complications and much more. Find out where you stand and what steps you can take after the fact.