He hasn’t found any court rulings involving disgruntled medical tourists so far, although health care providers everywhere have presumably reached confidential financial settlements with at least some unhappy patients. “The lack of test cases illustrates the legal uncertainty,” Cortez says.
Cortez, who holds a law degree from Stanford University, became interested in medical tourism while practicing at a Washington, D.C., firm. There, he represented medical technology clients, specializing in health care fraud, FDA enforcement and health privacy. While medical tourism didn’t directly enter his work, some of his clients were outsourcing clinical trials to health care providers abroad, causing Cortez to wonder about the legal implications and potential liabilities. Closer to home, his grandmother had gone to Mexico for dental care, but wound up with after-care problems requiring treatment back in the United States.
Cortez says employers are growing increasingly receptive to foreign health care for their workers in order to trim costs. However, he’s unaware of any U.S. universities actively promoting overseas health care to their faculty and staff at this time.
People considering medical procedures in another country should carefully weigh the advice of their local physicians, Cortez says, especially if that advice opposes their going abroad for surgery. Consumers also should limit their overseas selection from among upscale facilities accredited by the Joint Commission International, which works with health care organizations in more than 80 nations.
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