The Good, Bad and Ugly about Medical Tourism The latest fad appearing on TV magazine shows like 20/20 and Dateline focuses on the cost-savings of medical tourism. You can fly to the Czech Republic for major dental surgery or get a heart by-pass in Thailand, pay half or less of what you would pay in the USA, and get a vacation (counting hotel stay, costs of travel and the recovery period, too). Whether you are a fan of the rainforest in Belize or if you live in a paradise like Fort Lauderdale, you can find a medical and health dream come true in the tropics (India, Thailand or Brazil). "You have to look at the good, the bad and the ugly," according to Dr. Kurt Wagner, a plastic surgeon based in Boca Raton, Florida. "A medical procedure in another country can be significantly lower. It's great to find capable, even fabulous medical care in areas that twenty years ago most people would not have called developed. But you need to look at the bad, too. What if there are medical problems that arise from the procedure that was performed 10,000 miles away? Imagine coming home to find out that you need more follow-up care than anticipated by your Indian or Asian surgeon? Things can get ugly, according to Dr. Wagner, who has written more than a dozen books on cosmetic procedures. His latest, "The War Against Aging," is available through his office at www.asimd.com. "What will it cost to fix a botched procedure? If you had the procedure done at our office, we would make it right -- and I'm sure that low-cost doctor in Thailand will be happy to do the same, but you have another airplane ticket and hotel bill to consider." Dr. Wagner's work has helped people who wanted to travel to Belize and others who wanted find property in Fort Lauderdale and later retire in style. Their tropical dreams are realized with stable plastic surgery -- but he also does corrective surgery. Whatever your goal for travel, a quick recovery will put you back on the road... and most of us love to travel, we are all roadlovers. The faster that you recover, the quicker you can start giving back to society, such as donating time to visitors from Peru who want free English Lessons. Medical tourism is a hot topic and looking at the positives and negatives (and the REALLY BIG negatives) should be part of your evaluation of these low-cost alternatives to a local doctor's services. Whether you hear about these proc edures on a cruise or on TV, the decision is the same: What is best for you? JK McCrea Roadlovers.com www.RoadLovers.com travel and unravel www.freeenglishlessons.com improve your English to travel www.gaiglobal.org rainforest www.geocities.com/gaiglobal2/belizehome.html paradise home www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDqvPAi_Rac selling a home in Fort Lauderdale www.geocities.com/bb_tropicaldream www.BuildingInternationalBridges.com for penpals
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