He brought in a senior surgeon, who rushed our baby to the emergency room and saved his life. You're a physician, your wife is a physician, and this still almost happened to you. What this means is that when you sense that you're not being listened to, that you're not being taken seriously, or you don't fully trust the decision that's being made, because the person seems to be dismissing you or seems very inexperienced, you have the right as a patient and a family to demand a second opinion and to see a more senior person. There was a good chance she would've never sought a second opinion with those circumstances. And most people probably feel they're constrained by those kinds of limitations.
Many people are.
But even now, within the HMO or managed care networks, you can demand to a patient advocate to get a second opinion. And the HMO's are very much on the retreat now. They're not doing well financially, and if you press hard enough, you can get greater freedom of choice and you can go outside the network. We hear a lot about medical horror stories and read frequent reports about medical errors. Reading your book would make you think so.