Just a warning about a medical tourism coordinator

I'm not sure how much I am permitted to write about this guy so I will make it a general warning.

Please be careful of who you are sending your pre op photos and who that person really is.  There is a gentleman that promotes 7 doctors and he has you send him your photos and for $65 he will get quotes for all 7 surgeons.  He "guarantees" that he can get the price 30% less if you go through him.  A few of the surgeon's office staff have clarified that he cannot get you cheaper prices, that is simply not true.

Here is the problem, he is taking these photos that you are sending for quotes and posting them all over the internet laughing at them.

He is also taking photos at his local gym.  He goes to work out (he has a sleeve and has lost all his weight, had plastics, etc) and when in the locker room people are changing clothes, he's taking selfies but with nude men in the background and they don't even realize their photos are being taken of them nude and posting all over the internet.

There isn't a reason in the world why you should be sending photos to any coordinator.  You should be able to send them to the surgeon yourself.  A coordinator has no need to see your photos.

Pick a surgeon, send the surgeon your photos, and get your quotes.

Since I assume I cannot post this coordinator's name if you PM me I will give you a link to the full warning on this guy.

Please please, don't send your photos to coordinators.  Your photos are between you and the surgeon.  Skip the middle man, your booty is none of their business.

Even when sending pictures to a surgeon, do not have your face on them.  (From neck down only, just in case your email gets hacked.)

Thanks for reporting this - how low can a person get. 

Thank you for this warning! I'm preparing an article about medical tourism coordinators. I'm sure your post will be very helpful to medical tourists.  Unfortunately people usually don't know how to prepare for medical travel...

Is your article going to be anti-medical tourism?  What is your stance on medical tourism?

As you can see in my signature I'm blogging about medical tourism. I think that people who can afford health care in their home countries shouldn't be medical tourists. People who can't afford may benefit from medical tourism (save money and get great results), but there are few conditions: they have to know how to find a good specialist abroad and they have to know how to preprare themselves for medical travel and aftercare. Unfortunately many people don't know how to do this eg. they don't verify medical tourists faciliators, credentials of doctors abroad and the problem is that medical tourism can be very, very risky.  In my articles I try to raise awarness of risks of medical tourism and I try to teach people eg. how to prepare for medical travel. 

Regarding medical facilitators... hands down, the most dangerous medical tourism coordinators/facilitators are those who are licensed/certified.  You know who they prey upon?  The desperate population.  Those who have $4K or $3K and they want bypass, a sleeve, DS, whatever.  The medical tourism companies... I haven't met one yet that is worth their weight in salt.  They sign up the cheapest surgeons out there~  That means they can charge more for their commission.  Their certification and licensing means absolutely nothing.  

What it DOES do is make people feel safer using them and in fact, they are not safe in the least.  They need to find their surgeon and go directly through the office of the surgeon.

I disagree. I could have paid for PS in the states if I wanted but CHOSE to go abroad because I felt like I was going to be in the best hands. And it turned out to be the best medical experience/surgery/aftercare that I've ever had and trust me, I've had my fair share of dealings here in the US. Medical tourism is not just for those with financial concerns. Just something to consider researching in your blogging quests. 

More information is certainly needed and we all appreciate your efforts to bring this issue to light so patients can amke informed, safe decisions. The following  relates to Mexico:

Is there a database where licensure, disciplinary activities, and consumer complaints can be found ?

Hopefully in your research you could inform us about CONAMED, which is the presidential decree from 1996 that calls for arbitration of medical disputes.  Are non-Mexican citizens protected under this ?

What about general health or travel insurance ? Can that cover complication of plastic surgery or conditions that require more care ? 

Tips on setting up a provider back at home would also be helpful.

When I see patients after medical tourism gone wrong, they are often unable to get needed help in the above areas, and end up in an ER with extensive bills and providers unwilling to take on another surgeons complications.

Conamed- Yes, non Mexicans are protected under this and they will even provide a lawyer through the process for non MX citizens.

General travel insurance, yes, you can purchase it for a year of emergency aftercare.

You want to know the truth?  These bad surgeries are coming mostly out of Tijuana.  TJ is simply where it is cheap, unsafe, and most are not even board certified.  For plastics there are two types of training, one is 6 months, the other is 4 years.  Guess which one TJ surgeons have?  There have been a slew of deaths for bariatrics and plastics and the vast majority of them are from Tijuana.

People just plain cannot afford the US.  If they do not travel for bariatrics or plastics, then they get neither.  They need to be shown HOW t research.

WLSVet

to be completely honest with you I'm not a big fan of all these medical tourism intermediaries. I think every patient should find, choose and verify a doctor on his own. However, sometimes it is not possible- elderly, sick people may not be able to handle all the formalities etc. I heard many opinions that using medical tourism intermediary can be hit or miss. I don't have a solution, reviews on the internet are not completely reliable and there is often no other way to verify the company (except you have family members and friends who used their service before). I think limited access to information/reviews is one of the biggest problems of medical tourism in general.

acbbrown

It's great that you had such a wonderful experience abroad. In my post I wasn't precise. Patients like you are a different category of medical tourists (oriented on quality). I meant people who can afford medical service in their home countries, but travel for health care for money savings. I meant people who are not aware where to go, how to organize their medical travel and what to expect. I meant people who travel to 3^rd world countries. I know that you can get quality health care everywhere, but it's crucial to know how to find it. Statistics clearly say that infection rates after medical procedures are higher, quality of drugs and blood products is significantly lower in developing countries. There are also potential problems related to travelling back home after surgery, follow up visits, patients' rights in case of malpractice etc. And the price is really high (health, life). Patients have to do meticulous research before they decide to travel and - based on what I see- they often fail to do it right. That's the reason why I'm cautious.

DrL

thank you for your remarks and great ideas for the articles. There are so many issues related to medical tourism. In the nearest future I plan to do research on insurance for medical tourists.