Medical Mishaps

Lately in my lab we have been talking about medical mishaps and I certainly have a little bit of doubt in the health field after learning of some of the things that go wrong. In one of the stories that I have read, one woman was told that she had cancer and that she had to have both of her breasts removed as soon as possible. Just 48 hours after her mastectomy the woman was told that she never had cancer and that her breasts were removed for no reason at all. This devastated me because to think that the closest thing to a safe environment could mess up such situation as this. I would feel less of a woman without my real breasts, regardless if they can rebuild them. The woman states that many patients should always get a second opinion. No matter how accurate a doctor is, always get a second opinion. If there isn’t one, a mistake can be made resulting in death or a life changing experience.  This gave me the impression that some of my suspensions or concerns about hospitals or emergency rooms are or can be true. This makes me scared because some doctors or nurses won’t even check over their work or administration of medicine they are giving. You may never know if the incident is on purpose or actually by mistake. What is the health field coming to?