Arkansas Health Officials Warn Against ‘Medical Tourism’
If you were planning on taking your tax return dollars and popping down to sunny Mexico for a little plastic surgery, health officials in Arkansas want you to reconsider. It's been known for years that having a medical procedure done south of the border is absurdly cheaper than having it performed in the United States. Tons of travel websites even offer vacation packages for those wanting a costly procedure done at an affordable price.
Yesterday, health officials in Arkansas issued a warning to residents in the Ark-La-Tex about these popular surgical "options" after 2 residents returned from Mexico with a particularly nasty, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. The condition is very dangerous, almost impossible to treat, and could be fatal. The procedures were both performed at the Grand View Hospital in Tijuana, which has been shut down after Mexican and American officials found practices to control infection were completely sub-standard and ineffective. According to Arkansas Online, the hospital is responsible for over a dozen such infections nationwide since August of 2018.
As a good piece of standing advice, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that you don't trade your health to save a few bucks - even if you get a vacation out of the deal.