Second opinions

There was a tragic new story recently about a person who had a severe infection but who was mis-diagnosed. They were seen by multiple doctors and unfortunately by the time the correct diagnosis was made it was too late and the person died.

Thankfully we virtually never deal with life and death but we are fairly often called on to give a second opinion. For example a new patient walks in and tells you:

“Dr X down the street says that I need 9 crowns. What do you think?”

Usually such patients arrive with their records and x-rays and they are keen to show you.

Should you listen to the story from the previous dentist and look at their dental records?

I say the answer is an emphatic “No!”

In the tragic case mentioned above, the subsequent medical professionals had their judgement clouded by the original, incorrect diagnosis. They accepted it as true and proceeded on that basis.

It wasn’t until a doctor finally looked at the situation with “fresh eyes” that the misdiagnosis was corrected and the patient got proper treatment.

The fact that Dr X, down the street thinks a patient needs 9 crowns should be utterly irrelevant to you.

That’s why, whenever I got asked to give a second opinion I always told the patient not to tell me anything about the previous recommendations. I also refused to look at the notes and diagnosis from the other dentist.

I wanted to perform the examination with “fresh eyes”. If you try this you will find that the patient respects you for this approach. My second-opinion patients always did.

How do you handle your second opinions?