How are American doctors fighting medical tourism trend?

Cardiologist DrRich’s latest post details the concern the American College of Surgeons have for the burgeoning medical tourism industry, and how they are using malpractice as a reason not to travel overseas for your procedure.

“Indeed, the potential difficulty in suing foreign doctors appears to be the chief differentiator, and the primary argument in favor of good-old-American-surgery,” DrRich writes. “The surgeons, in essence, are saying, ‘Let us do your surgery, because we’re easier to sue if we screw up.'”

Similar arguments are being used by radiologists against so-called nighthawk or dayhawk services, where doctors overseas interpret x-rays. Who will be accountable in the event of a mistake?

It appears that “we’re easier to sue” is the uniquely American defense to medicine outsourcing.