Denying Patient Autonomy: Seeking Second Opinions In A Health Crisis *

It all began with a phone call to my older sister. I hadn't spoken to her in awhile and I was in the mood to talk. So I called her. We talked for awhile about work, movies we had seen, and life in general. But I could tell something was not quite right. When she didn't keep asking a lot of questions and didn't keep interrupting me, I knew something was wrong. It was as if she was politely waiting for me to finish. Finally, I asked, “So how are you?”