The dangers of medical tourism

Going abroad for a kidney transplant increases you chances of getting an infection or of the new organ being rejected by your body, a new study has found.

"Researchers from UCLA compared 33 patients who went to other countries to receive kidney transplants to 66 patients treated in the United States. They found that 30 per cent of medical tourists had kidney rejection compared with 12 per cent of those treated at UCLA."

As well, 27 per cent of medical tourism patients were hospitalized for infection after their surgery, compared with 9 per cent of U.S. patients. The tourists also reported higher rates of other complications.

The study is in the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.