Medical tourism has been on the increase in today’s world. This is because patients are ever looking for a place to minimize their medical expenses. In other instances, people want the power to do whatever they want with their bodies as far as medical health is concerned, something that is highly regulated by some developed nations.
The practice of medical tourism does not go without some dire consequences though. There are several dangers that are associated with it. They include;
- Frequent malpractice
It has been said that cheap is not always so cheap. This is the case when it comes to seeking medical care to some hospital that has little regulations on some practices. There are strict legal issues that follow some operations within the hospital. The legal system is quite severe to any cases of malpractice on the side of the doctors or of the hospital in general. For this reason, such operations are undertaken with so much care because the law is quite protective of the patient. The doctors therefore become more careful and the chances of mistakes are reduced highly. However, the prices charged are higher as compared to other countries where the law is lenient. Many medical tourists have become victims of these malpractices. They end up losing a lot on cost incurred. They are not compensated for any damages that could have occurred.
- Dangerous medical procedures
Many fake doctors are coming up with medical procedures that are not medically proven. Some are medicines that are sold below the counter and are not proved to be suitable for human use. Some of these procedures may be quite severe and result to the patient’s death. Others may backfire leaving you with a lifetime physical damages that you did not have before. Cases have been heard of people who wake up strong and decide to have some cheap, quick surgery, only to have that as their last day alive.
- May result to lose of lives of local patients
The patients travelling to the abroad countries usually pay more than the country’s nationals. Some doctors are out there to make more money. For this reason, more attention is given to the medical tourists with more money and less attention is given to the genuine cases of the locals. Some countries have hospitals with high carrying capacity which is sometimes surpassed by the number of patients present at a time. These may end up losing their lives due to delayed services and their inability to raise more money and compete with the medical tourists taking the time and resources meant for them.
Therefore, as much as medical tourism could be done for the right reasons, the negativity part also comes in when unwanted results emerge. It is therefore very important to put this into some consideration before starting your journey as a medical tourist. Think about how the journey will impact on your life by the time you come back. If it leaves you worse off, then maybe you should think twice.
Clinton Mantz had the opportunity to travel around the world because of his medical tourism internship he had a few years back. He is a licensed nurse by profession but a writer and blogger by passion. He had written articles about people in the industry including Steven Lash Satori.
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