This is going to blow your mind. A new study from the National Institutes of Health shows numerous medical practices encouraged by doctors have proven to be absolutely ineffective.

So did they once work and now have been improved upon? Nope! The study found that over the last 10 years articles published in the New England Journal of Medicine have proven many accepted medical practices never worked, never helped patients and have ultimately eroded trust in the medical profession.

This extensive study from Dr. Vinay Prasad and his team of researchers reviewed more than 1,300 original articles from 2001 to 2010. They focused on articles that described a new medical practice or tested an established one and evaluated a screening or diagnostic test, a procedure or surgery, a medication, or any change in the way health care is systemically provided.

Dr. Prasad called his findings very disappointing. “When medical practices are instituted in error, most often on the basis of premature, inadequate, biased, and conflicted evidence, the costs to society and the medical system are immense,” wrote Prasad and his team.

Pretty scary, huh? So the next time your gut is telling you your doctor’s recommendation doesn’t feel right, trust it and get a second opinion.

At SecondOpinions.com we make it easy for patients across the globe to get a second opinion at an affordable price and within as quickly as an hour.

You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-ray, Mammogram, Ultra-sound or Nuclear Medicine study. Our U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained specialist and subspecialist experts are on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.

Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our physicians are available 24/7/365. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. No appointments are needed.

Don’t trust everything one doctor tells you. Get the peace of mind you deserve at http://www.secondopinions.com

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin is reportedly getting a second opinion this week for his injured hip. The newly acquired Harvin will learn if he will need surgery to repair a partial tear in the labrum of his hip.

Harvin, who is known for his speed and agility, is starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list. CBS Sports is reporting that hip surgery could likely keep Harvin out for the entire 2013 season.

Last year when Harvin played for the Minnesota Vikings, Harvin was placed on injured reserve for an ankle problem. And two years earlier he was sidelined with a right hip injury.

Seattle Seahawks gave up three draft picks to nab Harvin this year in what was described as a blockbuster deal to improve the team’s Super Bowl chances. Harvin had a good showing with the Vikings racking up 20 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards receiving in his four seasons.

A lot is riding on the results of this second opinion for Harvin and the Seahawks. But you don’t have to be a professional athlete to understand the importance of second opinions.

At SecondOpinions.com all kinds of patients young and old receive second opinions in all areas of medicine. Because of our proprietary RADIOLOGY-ON-DEMAND® cloud technology, we are able to offer second opinions at an affordable price and deliver radiological reports within as quickly as an hour.

You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, trained at top American institutions, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.

No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report.

Get the peace of mind you deserve from SecondOpinions.com.

Boston Red Sox right hander Clay Buchholz is the latest professional athlete to seek a second opinion for an injury. Buchholz is seeing orthopedist Dr. James Andrews today in Pensacola, Florida for a second opinion on a shoulder injury.

Buchholz has been diagnosed with irritation in his AC joint, a strained trapezius muscle in his neck, and shoulder bursitis. He last pitched on June 8^th and was supposed to go through a brief rehab assignment before being returned to the roster. But the pain continued.

Red Sox manager John Farrell says Buchholz is obtaining a second opinion for ‘peace of mind’ to assure he can resume pitching safely.

Peace of mind is what a lot of patients are looking for when they use SecondOpinions.com. SecondOpinions.com connects patients globally to top U.S. physicians in any specialty and sub-specialties.  Within hours, patients receive a second opinion from a board certified physician.

Patients simply upload their DVD  images (MRI, CT etc) to a HIPAA regulated, secure, confidential platform and receive a report in the privacy of their own home or office. The prices range from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. No appointments necessary. Expert subspecialist radiologists are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states.

Obtaining a second opinion decreases medical errors, saves lives, and keeps healthcare costs down by preventing unnecessary surgeries and procedures. Get the peace of mind you deserve at SecondOpinions.com.

Boston Red Sox Relief Pitcher Andrew Miller is benched for the rest of the season. A second opinion obtained for an MRI confirmed ligament damage in his left foot. Who will do the surgery and where is now the question at hand after the second opinion verified what doctors and team officials feared.

Miller, like a number of high profile professional athletes of late, required a second opinion to determine a definitive diagnosis of an injury. In most of these cases, the results revealed whether the athlete could continue playing for the rest of the season or take a forced break for medical intervention.

At SecondOpinions.com, you don’t need to be a professional athlete to obtain top notch medical advice. If you’re suffering with knee or hip pain or a mammogram reveals a questionable image, you don’t have to wait to get the answers that will bring you peace of mind.

At SecondOpinions.com, you simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.

No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a new consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 to anyone across the globe.

The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. Reports are received within as quickly as an hour. And you receive the peace of mind you need and deserve. See for yourself at SecondOpinions.com.

If you haven’t heard of telemedicine – that’s about to change. Telemedicine allows patients to use the internet to set up doctor’s appointments, get prescriptions refilled, even, obtain a diagnosis for a medical condition through video conferencing with a physician.

Federal agencies have often believed telemedicine was more prevalent in rural areas because it can be difficult for patients living outside of the city to receive medical care quickly and effectively. But a report (.pdf) released June 7 by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration finds that Internet users living in urban areas are twice as likely to participate in telemedicine as rural Internet users.

The report also shows 11 percent of Internet users with family incomes of $100,000 or more engaged in telemedicine activities, while only 4 percent of those in the under $25,000 bracket reported such activities

In all, only 7 percent of Internet users told the Census Bureau that they go online to access medical records, participate in a video conference with a doctor, or use the Internet for remote procedures such as heart rate monitoring.

But those numbers are expected to dramatically increase over the next few years as telemedicine becomes more widely accepted by doctors and patients alike.

SecondOpinions.com is telemedicine at its best. We provide patients with a quick and easy way to have a medical scan interpreted by a board certified fellowship trained physician or sub-specialist expert.

Patients simply upload their images such as an MRI or CAT scan and our expert radiologists will read your images and provide their advanced second opinion.  You can also speak with an expert physician in any specialty via telephone or video chat.

Our services cost from $29 to $99 per report. No appointments necessary. You can receive your second opinion report in the comfort of your own home or office. SecondOpinions.com makes telemedicine affordable and convenient for anyone in the world.

It seems like every other week a professional athlete is getting a second opinion on a sports injury. The latest is Braves third baseman Ramiro Pena. He injured his right shoulder in Atlanta last month.

Pena hurt his shoulder earlier in June after landing awkwardly while making a diving stop along the third-base line. In 2007, his right shoulder was surgically repaired after he dislocated it while sliding into second base during a game.

Recently New Orleans outside linebacker Victor Butler tore his anterior cruciate ligament during practice. And another professional athlete Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was benched due to bursitis in his left knee.

Both of these pros also decided to get second opinions on their diagnoses in order to choose the best approach to treatment. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to get a second opinion on a sports injury.

SecondOpinions.com has U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.  Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states.

The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultra-sound or Nuclear Medicine study.  Our expert doctors interpret then deliver the results in the privacy of your home or office.

We also have specialists and sub specialists in every medical field available for consultations via telephone and video chat. Prices start at $49 per 5-minute consultation.

Don’t suffer through your pain – Make SecondOpinions.com part of your treatment plan.

You might have read about an associate professor at New York University School of Medicine who recently wrote a column for the New York Times admitting a mistake she made as a resident. She overlooked a bleed in a patient’s head and if the radiologist hadn’t caught the error the patient would have died.

The writer, Danielle Ofri, came clean in the article although the incident happened many years ago. She says it took years for her to get over the shame. The point she was trying to make in the article was to show that doctors and hospitals should admit to medical errors to prevent future problems.

There are close to 100,000 deaths per year in the United States resulting from medical errors. It happens more often than you might think. Some states are allowing doctors to explain medical mistakes and apologize for them. The so called “I’m Sorry” laws allow doctors to express compassion but protect them from an admission of liability.

So far 36 states have adopted these laws and the research shows not only is it right to apologize for mistakes it’s smart financially. Apologies help change the tone of the discussion, according to Sorry Works Coalition founder Doug Wojcieszak. Since an apology program was adopted by the University of Michigan Health System, improved communication with patients has cut litigation costs in half.

Another way to minimize medical errors and unnecessary procedures is to get a second opinion. SecondOpinions.com provides patients with a quick and easy way to have a medical scan interpreted by a board certified fellowship trained physician or sub-specialist expert.

Patients simply upload their images such as an MRI or CAT scan and our expert radiologists will read the images and provide their advanced second opinion.  You can also speak with an expert physician in any specialty via telephone or video chat.

Our services cost from $29 to $99 per report. No appointments necessary. You can receive your second opinion report in the comfort of your own home or office. Quality, affordability and convenience – that’s what you’ll find at SecondOpinions.com.

You’re not going to believe the statistics regarding unnecessary surgeries taking place in the United States today. And get ready for this – the reason for so many of these unnecessary or inappropriate procedures – physician preference, according to researchers!

A recent USA TODAY report reviewed government records and medical databases and found unnecessary surgeries might account for 10% to 20% of all operations in some specialties. The most common specialties affected are cardiac and spinal procedures.

A 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found 22.5% of patients who received a pacemaker-like device to correct heartbeat irregularities, did not need it.

Another 2011 study, in the journal Surgical Neurology International, revealed more than 17% of patients who had surgery for neck and back problems had no neurological or radiographic findings to indicate an operation was necessary.

Other surgical procedures performed more often than needed are knee replacements, hysterectomies, and cesarean sections, according to a review of in-depth studies and data generated by both government and academic sources.

Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies spend billions of dollars on unnecessary operations each year, draining health care dollars that could be put to better use.

That’s why medical experts are now urging patients faced with a surgical procedure to first obtain a second opinion. At SecondOpinions.com, patients receive second opinions in all areas of medicine. Because of our proprietary RADIOLOGY-ON-DEMAND® cloud technology, we are able to offer second opinions at an affordable price and deliver radiological reports within as quickly as an hour.

You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, trained at top American institutions, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.

No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a new consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.