Medical tourism presents issues even for those who choose qualified physicians in first world nations at world-class medical treatment centers. The customer who is less discerning, and selects a clinic in a nation without a well-developed medical system staffed by highly trained physicians, may not only have the procedure done incorrectly, but the patient may also jeopardize his or her life.

Credibility of Care

Quality medical care is not confined to the United States, but each nation will have its own policies and procedures. When looking to have low-cost cosmetic procedures performed abroad in less-developed nations, prospective patients should review that nation’s laws and procedure by which physicians become licensed. Mexico also has stringent requirements to become a physician and licensed physicians are likely to provide acceptable levels of care.

Traveling abroad to receive medical treatment is relatively common for Americans who require expensive surgery and have no insurance. Many developed countries will offer similar levels of medical care at a substantially reduced cost. This concept even applies to cosmetic surgery, which often remain uncovered by insurance. Patients can undergo a tummy tuck in Mexico for roughly half the cost that they can in the United States. However, this can be a false economy.

Standard of Care

Physicians in the United States are scrutinized heavily to ensure that they are capable of meeting the standard of care. To obtain a medical license, aspiring doctors must complete college, medical school, residency, fellowships, and a variety of potential hurdles. Once they are licensed, American physicians who err are subject to civil claims for malpractice and may be censured by peer groups or have their licensed revoked. As a result of these training requirements and the potential consequences for medical negligence, the standard of care in the United States is consistently very high.

Why You Might Want to Rethink having Cosmetic Surgery in Mexico

Modern medical science has made just about anything possible when it comes to a person’s physical appearance. Whether you have extra skin hanging off after losing weight or you just want to have fuller lips, there are medical procedures to make these changes.

Because these treatments can be expensive, and out of reach for many, U.S. citizens may look out-of-country for clinics which charge a lot less—perhaps thinking, what could be so different really? Unfortunately there can be some pretty dire consequences to making a decision to head to Tijuana, Mexico, one popular area for these procedures which has little government regulation.