The situation
The medical second opinion is a patient's right, enshrined in the French Medical Code of Ethics. It is recommended by learned societies for any heavy diagnosis, any non-urgent surgery, any rare disease.
In practice, it is rarely used because transmitting your record to a second specialist is an obstacle course: retrieving reports from your doctor, MRIs in DICOM from the clinic, blood tests from the laboratory, history from the primary care physician. Count 2 to 4 weeks.
When every week counts (oncology, evolving autoimmune disease), this delay is deterrent. Many patients give up on the second opinion from administrative exhaustion.
Figure. According to ONIAM, in nearly 20% of complex diagnostic cases, a second opinion significantly modifies the initial protocol.