Drugs & TreatmentsLearn how to avoid the ‘just to be safe’ scenarios that lead to potentially dangerous careIllustration by The Epoch Times

Practical tools to help you navigate doctors, tests, treatments, and costs, so you can avoid pitfalls, make informed choices, and become an active partner in your care.

A 52-year-old patient was newly committed to getting healthy—walking daily, eating better, and feeling strong—when a sharp pain flared in her chest. She assumed it was a pulled muscle, and subsequent tests looked normal. Still, her doctor ordered a cardiac CT scan “just to be safe,” Dr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, recounted to The Epoch Times.

Her CT scan revealed no clear abnormalities. However, her doctor then ordered a follow-up catheterization that tore a major artery, forcing emergency surgery. Within months, she’d undergone bypass surgery, followed by more complications, and finally a heart transplant.

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