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

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