Diagnosis murder

Herlinda Garcia was 54 when she had a benign tumor removed from her left breast.

Doctors later diagnosed her with terminal stage 4 breast cancer. And in the months that followed, she struggled through eight rounds of chemotherapy… before a new set of scans revealed that her initial diagnosis was one big mistake.

Turns out, she didn’t really have cancer at all.

This may sound like some urban myth perpetuated by paranoid skeptics of modern medicine. But it’s not. It actually happened. To a real woman, living in Texas.

The courts recently awarded her $367,500 for her ordeal. But if you ask me, that’s not nearly enough.

It doesn’t make up for the crushing anxiety that this woman suffered as she grappled with prospect of her own imminent death. It doesn’t make up for pain and heartbreak suffered by her loved ones in the process.

And it certainly doesn’t make up for the completely unnecessary ravages of chemotherapy, which will have profoundly negative impact on this woman’s health for the rest of her natural life.

I’ve discussed the importance of approaching any cancer diagnosis with caution before–most recently with respect to the growing popularity of preventive surgery. But this horrifying story drives home a very important point.

Bad medicine can happen anywhere, to anyone. And our current methods of dealing with cancer make the awful consequences of these kinds of mistakes especially tragic.

That’s why you must always be your own advocate. Educate yourself. Heavily weigh your options. And do not hesitate to get a second opinion before you make any life-altering decisions.

I address ways to safely navigate the modern world of breast cancer screening in this month’s issue of my newsletter, Logical Health Alternatives. And I cannot overstate how vital this information is.

When it comes down to it, the most important second opinion you’ll ever get is your own.

Source:
Holt, William. “Texas woman underwent chemo after false diagnosis.” Yahoo News. 17 July 2013.