The Medical Travel Advisory, the first ever issued by the medical
tourism industry, identifies an excessive number of deaths and
life-threatening infections of medical tourists in Dominican Republic,
and cautions medical tourists about specific safety risks in Thailand,
Mexico, India and South Korea.
"We urge medical travelers to seek an alternative to the Dominican Republic," says Julie Munro, president of MTQUA. "At
least four people this year alone have died after surgery that we know
of. Dozens more acquired life-threatening infections they had to treat
in hospital back home. This is unacceptable."
As many medical tourists start planning in January for medical
travel later in the year, MTQUA cautions them to take greater care when
considering medical or surgical procedures in Thailand, South Korea,
India and especially in Mexico, where deaths from weight loss and
plastic surgery in certain clinics in the border towns of Tijuana and
Mexicali have been widely reported in the American media.
Conditions in these countries present unreasonable and unwarranted
risk, and possible life-altering harm including poor quality results,
disregard for medical traveler safety, and even death, according to
MTQUA.
"We are naming the Dominican Republic because this situation
has been going on for years. It is widespread and not confined to one or
two clinics. Neither the government nor the medical establishment has
shown a clear commitment to fix this. Instead, the country continues to
promote itself as a preferred medical tourism destination which is
absolutely not the case," says Munro.
For now, Dominican Republic authorities have shut down one clinic
but not other clinics that have been identified as the source of
life-altering surgical-site infections in medical travelers in reports
from as far back as 2003.
MTQUA calls on the governments and the medical profession of these
countries to review specific incidents and the underlying reasons why
medical tourists are finding themselves at such high risk so that
medical and wellness travel becomes safer and better for all medical
tourists.
Medical tourists can keep risks low by using the services of a
professional care manager or patient representative at the destination
and one who charges a fee for services. Avoid commission agents paid for
bringing patients to a hospital or clinic. Hospitals are generally
safer than clinics as even registered clinics often don't follow the
same cleanliness and sterile procedures, have unlicensed staff, and are
not close to emergency facilities.
