Medical care has changed so much in the last several years that the importance of a second opinion, if there is a serious diagnosis is even more important. The glory days of medicine are certainly over. Yes, we have lots of good things, but research seems to have become more important than everyday patient care. Recently, I have been told about a woman who has had breast cancer and now has a mass in her abdomen. A biopsy was done that revealed cancer, but I don't know if someone competent looked at the biopsy slides. When I was seeing neuromuscular patients and reviewing muscle biopsies from across the U.S. I was appalled at some of the unreadable muscle biopsies I was sent, particularly when the patients had been given a diagnosis based on the unreadable biopsies. Even well-known medical centers may have pathologists with limited training.
Instead of doing a pet scan to see if there were any metastatic lesions, the woman was told to take a laxative and eat a limited diet. Instead of surgically removing the mass and probably part of the affected bowel, she was told that surgery would decrease her immunity. What did the doctor think a metastatic mass would do? This is a relatively young woman' who very much needs a second opinion in a different hospital. I suspect she is being left to die. All biopsies should be reviewed by an expert in the field of the medical problem. I was once giving a talk in a major hospital about muscle diseases and a doctor in the front row in the audience asked several questions. Later he introduced himself and said he was the head pathologist. He admitted that muscle biopsies were not part of his training and he agreed to send any further biopsies to people I recommended.
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