The Ethics of Medical Tourism

Abstract

Medical tourism is rapidly growing. There are various reasons for this form of travel; from having life-saving surgery, receiving organ transplants and other vital operations, to therapeutic massage, using hot spas, and cosmetic surgery, and from receiving assistance with infertility to assisted suicide services at particular destinations. Some forms of medical tourism have strong ethical issues attached to them, but there are also ethical issues that may apply to almost all cases, and these can be discussed in a general way. This chapter discusses fundamental definitions of the concepts and general ethical issues in medical tourism, and then explains in more detail some of the moral issues in medical tourism that need to be examined from an ethical standpoint. The chapter establishes common ground for discussion based on broadly accepted principles that can be used almost universally as general guidelines for ethical decision-making in medical tourism activities.