Comments on: Medical tourism, malpractice, and it’s easier to sue American doctors

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:53:07 +0000

I think it is great that people have options. Maybe the insurance companies will take heed and start lowering rates.

By: arf

arf — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:48:21 +0000

excuse me, I meant the state medical/dental school was heavily PROTECTED from tort liability, as a state entity.

By: arf

arf — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:47:15 +0000

Oh, the patient has legal recourse. The patient can sue under whatever that country has for a liability system.

I had someone stop by the office once, with a cracked mandible from some sort of dental procedure done in Mexico. The person wanted to save money, went over the border. Got what he paid for.

Couldn’t find a USA dentist to take over. Wanted me to pick up the slack. I said no way. I was one of a bunch of physicians who said the same thing. Go to the state university medical center, with the dental school, and heavy tort liability.

The trial bar is nothing if not creative. Unable to sue the operating surgeon in another country, I’m sure there will be something I didn’t do 100% perfect, and concoct a way to make me take the fall for a foreign surgeon’s malpractice.

That may be why I’m always getting spammed with requests to hold myself out as the American doc to take on postop care of various medical tourist clinics.

By: An American Surgeon

An American Surgeon — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:21:44 +0000

As a surgeon who travels with my patients offshore to perform surgery, the lower risk of malpractice suits, no government or insurance company interference, and much lower costs have made medical tourism a growth industry. The USA is no longer the best place to get cost-effective care in a timely manner.

By: June 7 roundup

June 7 roundup — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:05:29 +0000

[...] Medical tourism, cont’d: “It appears that ‘we’re easier to sue’ is the uniquely American defense to medicine outsourcing.” [KevinMD] [...]

By: Dr. York Yates

Dr. York Yates — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:46:20 +0000

A a plastic surgeon, I would strongly dissuade a patient from traveling for cosmetic surgery. Besides the legal issues, other things to consider include:

1) Language barrier may impair communication about what is going to be accomplished.
2) Follow up visits may be compromised by travel
3) It is possible to be stuck in a foreign hospital if there are complications, i.e R&B star Ushers wife.
4) Unique overseas bacteria and virus exposure.

I blogged about this a month ago @ http://www.yorkyates.com/?s=medical+tourism.

By: throckmorton

throckmorton — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:19:55 +0000

A point that is often missed in “medical tourism” is that at present, far more people travel to the US for medical care than US citizens who travel elsewhere. Just look at the number of Canadians who travel to the Mayo or Cleveland Clinics. So, the question is “how many travel here for the quality of the care that they cant get in their country and how many travel here because they can sue the doctor which they could not in their country?”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:55:43 +0000

I don’t know about outsourcing surgical procedures, but it is definitely cheaper to fly to a foreign country and get a MRI scan and get it read over there. I hope this helps the patients who cannot afford care in the US.

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:56:39 +0000

Another way of phrasing the argument is: “What legal recourse do you have overseas if your surgeon (or radiologist) screws up?”

If one makes overseas surgery attractive enough to consumers, rest assured that American surgeons would follow. Limited overseas liability and substantially less paperwork would be only two factors motivating their flight. One should consider who does the post-op follow-up in an overseas surgery. As you’ve noted earlier this week, surgeons are not eager to take on the chore when they could be operating instead. And their surgical patients would be at least an ocean away…

Realistically, this is an artificial argument, I would anticipate the introduction of legislation or insurance policies that would ensure payment would be restricted to US physicians, for liability and care concerns. That would leave self-pay customers only seeking care overseas.

By: family practitioner

family practitioner — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:17:40 +0000

That’s a shame.
Whatever happened to having the best health care in the world? Wasn’t that the argument to justify why we are so expensive?

I am a family practitioner; I don’t like this trend because a patient with complications of a surgery done in Thailand, for example, will show up in my office on a Friday afternoon, and I have to “bail them out.” But you know what? I feel the same about patients who have to go to NYC to see big shot doctors for routine surgeries; I have to bail them out to.

Radiologists, surgeons: please tell me why I should shed tears for you? Did you guys care at all while primary care was/is bled into near nonexistence?