Law Professor Discusses Medical Tourism

When most people hear the word “tourism,” they immediately think of flocking to the sandy beaches of the Caribbean or exploring museums in a European city. For Harvard Law School graduate I. Glenn Cohen, the word has a different implication: travelling to another country for medical treatment.

The now-Law School professor discussed this phenomenon, called medical tourism, and his new book, “Patients with Passports: Medical Tourism, Law, and Ethics,” on Wednesday afternoon. Cohen was joined by three other panelists—Kennedy School of Government professor Amitabh Chandra, School of Public Health professor Alicia Ely Yamin, and Medical School professor Nir Eyal—for a discussion of medical tourism and its implications.

Cohen started the conversation by defining medical tourism as the process of people travelling from less developed countries to more developed countries like the United States in pursuit of higher-level medical treatment.

According to Cohen, another reason why a patient might travel to a country for medical purposes, besides seeking higher quality care, may deal with issues of legality—a phenomenon sometimes called “circumvention tourism.” Procedures that are illegal in certain countries include abortion, assisted suicide, reproductive technologies, and stem cell therapies.

According to Chandra, because the majority of patients seeking medical procedures abroad seek the lowest costs possible, medical tourism might force medical institutions and countries to better evaluate their cost structures, which would lead to increased price competition. He mentioned, however, that although medical tourism can be used to measure cost, the travel of patients will not translate into quality of care.

Yamin commented on ethical and legal implications of medical tourism, especially as they relate to the concept of the right to health.

“To define [health] as a right implies one, that it is of special moral importance; and two, that it is subject to social influence,” said Yamin, quoting from Cohen’s book.

Eyal noted that costs affiliated with medical tourism may negatively impact destination countries and mentioned that locals would have to compete with tourists for the same services they currently receive.

Cohen’s book is divided into discussion of legal scenarios and illegal scenarios. It considers client questions of where one would travel, instances of suing for malpractice and other liabilities, how medical tourism would affect the destination country’s healthcare, and policy regulation.