Forty-nine percent of American patients say they never seek a second opinion when care providers prescribe drugs, surgery, or other treatments, according to a Gallup survey.

Questioning about 5,000 people, surveyors also found that 41% of respondents sometimes seek a second opinion and 3% always get a second opinion. (The remaining 7% didn't have a provider or said they didn't know.)

Women are more likely to get a second opinion than men, the data suggest, as are people with more education.