answer:This is a difficult concept to address, as determining actual hypochondria can be dicey. Your friend sounds like an extreme case, therefore fairly easy to diagnose, but often people (mostly women) have their health concerns dismissed by doctors (mostly male) simply because their presentation comes across as non-credible because of fear and/or basic anxiety. Maybe, in extreme cases (such as that of your friend), a system could be put into place where after X number of random visits a flag would appear on the person’s record that would require a mandatory visit to a counselor to determine that person’s state of mind. I would hate to see such a system controlled by the insurance company, however, as they are way too quick to deny claims already. It’s a very hard call to make, there are conditions that are difficult to diagnose, and therefore oft dismissed.