Medical Tourism

[Emergent]

I had a patient who came into the ER for a recheck after having an elective surgery done in Mexico. She said it cost $4,000 there and would have cost $30,000 in the US. She did this to save money.

She was about 10 days post op and had no local doctors to follow up with so was told to come to the ER for evaluation for post op problems.

I've read about this becoming more and more common because of the high cost of medicine in the United States. What do you think?

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

The last place I would want to go is over seas to get any surgery done. I would not want to be that far away from my doctors & my home. I don't like being in the hospital to being with let alone being hundreds or thousands of miles away. That's a long way to travel when you just had surgery. Pass!

[RiskManager]

My hubby has said if I want anything cosmetic done, we'll go to his native Seoul. Lots of skilled plastic surgeons and much cheaper. I may consider a mommy makeover at some point.

What would a daddy makeover entail? Asking for a friend.

[Extra Pickles]

I would never consider this. First, I wouldn't want to go to Mexico for surgery. Most likely would wake up in a ditch with my kidney and liver missing, having no memory of what happened. Second, even if the surgery was legitimate, I would probably end up septic after the surgery, would have to fly home, get a DVT on the flight, and die soon after. Not worth it, at all. But if people want to do this, it's their life.

LOTS of places AREN'T Mexico and they do lots of excellent surgeries safely and affordably. No ditches or kidney theft involved. Just sayin'.