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Laymen tend to think they must be guided by the opinions of professionals. In medical matters, they seldom even seek a second opinion. In case of doubt, they tend to go with authority or with the majority. This isn't always too shrewd.
In 1945 I was in an Army hospital recovering from wounds, and the staff, including the chief surgeon (Col. McKeever, a nationally known orthopod from California) said my left leg had to come off. With my father's help, I brought in outside orthopods for consultation, and the first two of those also wanted to amputate. Finally, however, Dr. Carl Badgley was brought in from the University of Michigan hospital, and he said he could do a bone graft and save the leg. Not being a total idiot, I asked him to do the job, and fortunately his reputation was sufficient to swing the O.K. from the staff. He did the graft, and I still have the leg. (Dr. Badgley only charged $100 for the surgery, including two trips from Ann Arbor to Battle Creek.)
The moral, of course, is that when 1,000 experts tell you to drop dead, and one says maybe he can save your life, it's not the time to count ballots.
Robert C. W. Ettinger
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