The decision to seek a second opinion by patients who have been advised elective surgery is common. Yet such a decision produces a myriad of thoughts in the mind of the primary physician, not all of them favourable. I think that the decision to seek a second opinion, in India at least, depends most importantly on whether the primary opinion is from a reputed government hospital or a private hospital.
Hidden in this is the feeling, perhaps indirectly fuelled by press sensationalism, that private practice is avaricious, low credibility and guided more often by revenues and vested interest, which obviously (at least I hope so) is not the case in a government hospital where opinions are in general, free and fair. Ofcourse there are always some patients who resort to second opinion because they are shopping for a cheaper option or hospital and mask this desire in the guise of a second…
