News
|
Medical Meccas
by Joe Cochrane
Newsweek International
Oct. 30, 2006 issue - It's not a stretch to
call Jamie Johnson an accidental tourist in Thailand. While touring with
a Christian singing group last month, Johnson, a diabetic from the United
States, developed an infection in her ankle that shut down her kidneys.
She was evacuated by airplane from Malaysia to Bumrungrad International
hospital in Bangkok—a facility she had ever heard of in a country she
had never been to and in a city she had associated with sex shows in
beer bars. "My husband back home was thinking, 'She's going to be in
a straw hut'," she says.
^ Back to Top ^
'Medical Tourism' Industry Grows Rapidly
by Oxford Analytica
Forbes.com
In a global economy characterized by better access to information and
lower transportation costs, North American consumers are discovering
that they can get high-quality health care more cheaply and more quickly
in some developing countries. However, such "medical tourism" may only
have a marginal effect on health costs in North America.
Rising health care costs in the United States and longer waiting times
in Canada are inducing patients to seek treatment overseas. The appeal
of this phenomenon is driven by cost savings as high as 90%, depending
on the procedure and the country in which it is performed, and virtually
no wait times.
^ Back to Top ^
Outsourcing Your Health
by Allison Van Dusen
Forbes.com
When 56-year-old Ward Styner found out he needed a new hip last summer,
he did what any logical, uninsured American would do. In pain while selling
used cars in Yakima, Wash., he got on the Internet and searched the phrase "free
hip replacement."
Styner didn't have the surgery for free. But he only paid $15,000--a
quarter of what he was quoted at a local hospital--by traveling to Malaysia,
and the Gleneagles Medical Centre Penang, through the medical tourism
agency MedRetreat.
^ Back to Top ^
F.D.A. Will Allow Breast Implants Made of Silicone
by Stephanie Saul
Published: The New York Times, November 18, 2006
The Food and Drug Administration yesterday lifted a 14-year ban on the
use of silicone gel breast implants in the United States after decades
of contentious debate and litigation over their safety.
The federal agency approved implants manufactured by two California
companies, Mentor and Allergan, for breast reconstruction and cosmetic
breast augmentation, but limited cosmetic use of the implants to women
ages 22 and older.
^ Back to Top ^
FDA Approves Silicone Gel-Filled Breast Implants After In-Depth Evaluation
by U.S. Food and Drugs Administration
November 17, 2006
After rigorous scientific review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) today approved the marketing of silicone gel-filled breast implants
made by two companies for breast reconstruction in women of all ages
and breast augmentation in women ages 22 and older. The products are
manufactured by Allergan Corp. (formerly Inamed Corp.), Irvine, Calif.,
and Mentor Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif.
^ Back to Top ^
Fastest Growing Plastic Surgeries
by Matthew
AOL & Forbes
Herper New York - Last year, plastic surgeons collected fees of $1.3
billion for Botox, $1 billion for nose jobs and $750 million for liposuction.
But the number of nose jobs and liposuction procedures has decreased
over the past five years. The fastest-growing procedures in plastic surgery
aren't such mere tune-ups; rather, they're major operations in which
surgeons literally cut away pounds of flesh.
^ Back to Top ^
Vacation, Adventure And Surgery?
CBS News
This summer, millions headed out to foreign lands for vacation, adventure,
tourism, or just a beautiful beach.
But how about hip surgery or a multiple bypass or a facelift?
A growing number of tourists are doing just that, combining holidays
with health care, and that's because a growing number of countries are
offering first-rate medical care at Third-World prices. Many of these
medical tourists can't afford health care at home (the 40 million uninsured
Americans, for example). Others are going for procedures not covered
by their insurance: cosmetic surgery or infertility treatment, for example.
^ Back to Top ^
Beauty From Afar
by Tackles Medical Tourism
ABC News
Some Americans are going to foreign lands to get cheap surgeries. Watch
the vdo.
^ Back to Top ^
Sending Patients Packing
By Julie Appleby and Julie Schmit
USA TODAY
Would you travel to India for a cut-rate heart bypass? How about Thailand
for a hip replacement? Some uninsured and those with skimpy insurance
have taken the risk, leading to what promoters say is a growing trade
in "medical tourism."
Now, companies that help arrange such travel are eying a far bigger
market: U.S. employers who want to save money on their health care costs.
The appeal is obvious: Heart surgeries and hip replacements in such
countries as India, Thailand and Mexico can be had for less than one-third
the cost in the USA.
At the same time, medical costs in the USA are rising rapidly, with
no end in sight.
^ Back to Top ^
Medical tourism growing worldwide
Falling ill while abroad seems like the worst sort of traveling nightmare.
Yet, for growing numbers of travelers, the lure of combining affordable
medical care with attentive room service is a chief draw for packing
a suitcase and boarding a plane.
^ Back to Top ^
|
