Posts Tagged surgical tourism
A Woman Warns of South American Plastic Surgery
Posted by admin in plastic surgery complications, surgical tourism on July 21, 2011
Forum Post:
WARNING SOUTH AMERICAN CLINIC BREAST IMPLANTS
Postby powderpuff ยป Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:17 pm
THIS IS A WARNING!! I had a breast lift and augmentation done in South America about a year and a half ago. The breasts were asymmetrical and the scars keloided. I don’t think this had anything to do with the surgeon, but the CLINIC he was working for gave him (and all their doctors) only cheap, substandard materials to work with. Permanent sutures were used and digging them out caused the keloiding. Some of the sutures were still underneath the skin when I had the breasts redone, as the clinic kept postponing the suture removal until the poor material had become embedded! About a year ago I started experiencing pain in both breasts but figured it was normal, and I have a high tolerance for pain. I just had the surgery redone by a PS here in SF
Source: messageboards.makemeheal.com/viewtopic.php?t=57402
This gal posts on a forum I have frequented in the past about her experience with cosmetic surgery in South America. Be careful.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
BTW – There are also good surgeons in South America. They don’t operate in substandard conditions in a basement for pennies though.
Originally posted 2007-09-12 09:19:00.
A Plastic Surgical Tourism Disaster
Posted by admin in plastic surgery complications, plastic surgery news, surgical tourism on April 4, 2011
Stacey Cavaliere’s story starts off pleasantly enough. After two years of diet and exercise she lost 135 pounds, and as a reward she was planning a Costa Rica vacation, where a nice relaxing trip awaited her. Or that’s what the tourist Web site promised her. It also promised that Caveliere, 35, would come back lifted, tucked and toned in places where her extreme weight loss yielded excess hanging skin. But upon returning to the U.S., Cavaliere wasn’t showing off her new body — she was rushed to the emergency room where her abdomen had to be completely reconstructed after a botched body lift. Only after eight surgeries did she end up with the body she wanted.
Source: aolhealth.com/condition-center/plastic-cosmetic-surgery/medical-tourism
The problem with trying to offer large scale surgery on the cheap is that you often are short changed on the technical and safety aspects …the stuff that really matters. Any patient can get a wound infection, but if these are detected early in good follow-up they are much less damaging. Using the proper precautions they are rare, but what if some of those precautions are skipped because they are deemed too costly? You are the one who loses here.
When your surgeon lives on another continent, it is difficult to get good follow-up care even if the surgical care was good. This woman had a catastrophe requiring eight operations by a domestic plastic surgeon for repair. In this case, cheap became really expensive.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Related:
Tameka Foster (Usher’s Wife) and Surgical Tourism
Dr D’s “Cheap Plastic Surgery”
Originally posted 2009-03-27 14:25:00.
Surgical Tourism With A Dominican Twist – Hector Cabral
Posted by admin in plastic surgery news on February 11, 2011
He’d love to nip back home to the D.R. and perform a few more liposuctions — but a Manhattan judge wouldn’t take any chances. Accused quack plastic surgeon Hector Cabral was in court this morning, pleading in vain to get his Dominican passport back. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has charged Cabral, 51, with unauthorized practice of medicine, saying he lured city women to his home island on the promise of cheap plastic surgery, only to leave them sick and disfigured. Cabral has collected victims since 1999, mostly from spas and salons in Washington Heights, officials charge. Sometimes he’d even whip out a black marker and diagram where on their bodies they needed liposuction.
Source: nypost.com/p/news/local/accused_hack_plastic_surgeon_is_JRnlicbXN5R58zXsCy7KUK#ixzz1D2cJJFs2
Surgical Tourism refers to the practice of patients traveling to foreign countries for less expensive (sometimes plastic) surgery. We have discussed the issue here before.
Hector Cabral is a plastic surgeon in the Dominican Republic by report. He apparently added a new dimension to the equation of surgical tourism by coming to the United States (New York) to recruit patients. He is not licensed in the United States to practice medicine.
The district attorney is after him for proposed malpractice even though the surgery occurred in the Dominican Republic. The question will be jurisdiction. Can we hold a surgeon who operated in another country accountable in this country? We will have to keep an eye on this one.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Surgical Tourism For Breast Implants – The Price You Pay
Posted by admin in breast implant pre-op tutorial, makemeheal question, surgical tourism on October 18, 2010
As some of you know I used to host a forum at MakeMeHeal upon which I addressed questions. Sometimes people need more than can be offered via the internet alone.
The Question:
Hi There,
I had my BA in Oct 2007, My left breast swelled up 2 days after surgery so I had to go back and have my implant taken out and put back in, I was not told why this was. The surgeon then checked it 3 days later and everything was fine. [Ed - This was probably a hematoma.] BUT I am now noticing that my left breast at the top seems firmer then the right – like a ridge??
It is not painful and I am not unwell from it. BUT I am concerned maybe its CC? or does it look a strange shape because my Nipples are so saggy? I am looking into a Nipple lift but am worried sick about my breasts. I had my surgery in Belgium and its proving Impossible to talk to them. My GP is now closed until Monday and A&E are unable to help me…
My Answer:
Hello,
You went out of your country to have your breasts operated. Now you ask a surgeon in a third country to help you sort out what’s going on. You need someone to examine you in order to properly address your concern.
Without seeming cruel, your case exemplifies a leading problem with surgical tourism. You had an operation by a surgeon you couldn’t have possibly been able to validate who is unavailable now that you need post-operative assistance. This is the price you pay to get it cheaper in that other country. I do hope you are able to get things properly evaluated but using the internet alone is really inadequate for you at this stage.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Originally posted 2008-06-23 07:30:00.
Surgical Tourism – Insurance Companies Getting Involved Too
Posted by admin in surgical tourism on July 7, 2008
Once the province of the poor and uninsured, medical tourism is gaining attention of industry giants such as CIGNA, Aetna and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, who say they either have begun or are considering pilot programs that provide limited coverage for foreign care. One Montana firm, Employee Benefit Management Services Inc., recently began offering medial tourism plans to its 120 self-insured clients in the Northwest.
Source: msnbc.msn.com/id/25415614
Surgical tourism has been an issue within Cosmetic Surgery as it is a lower cost alternative. Domestic cosmetic surgery is expensive. Your surgeon’s overhead stays high and the time to become trained is long and expensive as well. Now it looks like the insurers are getting in the “tourism game” paying for your Hip surgery in India.
This has been a worry to the cosmetic surgery mills practices, but not-so-much to others. The tummy tuck I do in my practice is pretty high end and my patients get long term follow-up as well. You aren’t going to get that in India or Mexico. Quality differentiates domestic from cheap foreign plastic surgery in many cases. And some of the outcomes considered OK in foreign countries would get you sued in the US.
This isn’t an “apples to apples” comparison.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Surgical Tourism Story on AOL
Posted by admin in cheap plastic surgery, surgical tourism on August 29, 2007
Source: money.aol.com/kiplingers/insurance/canvas3/_a/adventures-in-medical-travel/20070829120609990001
You will save money on these foreign country cosmetic trips that is unless you have a complication. The negatives are quality control, recourse and management of problems should you have any. I would not advise having a large scale operation there requiring much post-operative care. Those are the cases in which risk may exceed benefit. American surgeons will likely not be available if you have problems as the liability for them is large.
As with anything patients should evaluate risk versus benefit to come to a decision.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Be Careful Of Surgical Tourism – Surgical Terrorism?
Posted by admin in surgical tourism on June 26, 2007
Be careful of going cheaply in another country. The standards of care there may be very different from that which you expect.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Dr D – Your Orange County Surgeon
PAGE STATS:
scrolling="no" frameborder="0"
style="border:none; width:300px; height:60px">
MORE ONLINE Dr D
Dr D on Instagram
