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COSMETIC MEDICINE

Advocacy

for the Aesthetic Patient –

It’s Good Medicine

By Christian L. Stallworth, MD

On Oct. 30, 2018, a Dallas resident and El Paso native U.S. that much easier. Not surprisingly, cosmetic and dental proce-
dures lead the list of medical services sought by these hopeful trav-
visited a cosmetic center in Juárez, Mexico excited to
undergo a rhinoplasty procedure. She would go on to sustain cata- elers who are perhaps more concerned with cost than safety and
strophic neurologic sequelae and expire on November 24, 2018. quality. So, despite living in a state with some of the world’s most
What events led to her death we may never know. But for the ques- renowned rhinoplastic surgeons, the family of this deceased former
tion of “why” she went to Mexico for this procedure, the answer Texan reported she traveled to Juarez because the surgical cost was
may center around the same drivers that influence much of medi- more affordable to her. Instead of obtaining the nose of her
cine today — cost and access. dreams, though, she paid the ultimate price of death. This is not to
According to Patients Beyond Borders, a consumer site focused say there aren’t renowned rhinoplasty surgeons in Mexico. On the
on international medical travel, an estimated 1.9 million American contrary, there are extraordinary surgeons in Mexico and through-
medical tourists will travel abroad for medical care in 2019 alone, out the world. The difference, though, may be in the lack of suffi-
with Mexico serving as one of the largest destinations. Using United cient due diligence. In the absence of strong regulation, patients
States-based procedural and pricing benchmarks, they report aver- risk falling victim to inexperience, inadequate training, second-rate
age savings throughout the world to range from 20-70%. And re- facilities and equipment, poor sanitation, embellished advertising
siding in a border state like Texas makes access to care south of the and empty promises.

12 San Antonio Medicine • July 2019