Letter to the editor: Whatever happened to second opinions?

Gone are the days when second opinions from another doctor were required or recommended. It had been standard practice for insurance companies to actually insist you get a second opinion before proceeding with surgery or treatment. Why was that practice abandoned?

It is heart-wrenching to watch a loved one not respond to treatment for a specific illness. It is heart-wrenching to see families of a loved one denied a second opinion because it is not hospital policy. It is heart-wrenching to see loved ones die when known treatments for a specific illness have been successful, but they are not the expensive and sometimes dangerous treatments that have been dictated to hospitals as protocol. It is heart-wrenching to see courts deny a family’s request to bring in another doctor. Why is that? Hospital policy, you say? I thought it is your body; have you no say?

Yes, gone are the days when a patient’s welfare was paramount and doctors did not have their hands tied by bureaucrats and hospital policy. Why is that?

Linda Haun

Greensburg