Bumrungrad International Hospital, a Joint Commission International accredited hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.

Alerts and Recommendations for Prospective Patients of Medical Tourism

For those people considering treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, or any international hospital, it is strongly recommended that the following due diligence be considered:

Warning! Be sure to heed the following prior to considering treatment:

1. Make sure you are accompanied by a relative or friend for your entire stay. Preferably, that friend should have medical knowledge and should monitor EVERY test and medication administered. If there is any doubt about ANY thing, the doctor at home should be called immediately. Please be aware that Bumrungrad doctors receive a 20 percent kickback on the price of all medications they prescribe. This encourages them to over prescribe since they personally profit from so doing.
2. Require evidence of credentials of physicians.
3. Inquire about insurance available in the United States or Europe for malpractice, negligence or medical error.
4. Require evidence of licenses of all personnel to be attending the prospective patient.
5. Ask for a full disclosure of how many procedures of various kinds (particularly the procedure you intend to performed) and the complication rate.
6. Obtain a history of hospital acquired infections and the number of patients affected.
7. Obtain a history of pharmacy errors resulting in complications, injury or death.
8. Require accounting of deaths in the last 5 years caused by undetermined reasons.
9. Ask about deaths or injuries which resulted in police reports and investigations. Also ask for the outcomes for each.
10. Find out the number of police investigations for mishaps at Bumrungrad.
11. Inquire as to what percentage of those foreign patients (in patient services for Patients) who have returned for second or third procedures.
12. Request a list of each doctor who are US Board Certified or Certified in other countries the and evidence of those credentials.
13. Demand a disclosure of the details of the hospital insurance covering malpractice and negligence in Thailand.
14. Obtain a list of those laws, currently in force in Thailand, which deal with medical malpractice and medical negligence.
15. Request a list of all disciplinary or corrective actions required of Bumrungrad by the Joint Commission for Hospital Accreditation within the last 5 years. Request, also, the results and copies of the correspondence which confirms that any corrective measures were, in fact, completed.

Medical Tourism: Prospective Patients Beware

The information contained in this site describes the death of a human being at a hospital which has paid for Joint Commission International Accreditation (a US-based not-for-profit Corporation). This site is intended to inform persons, worldwide, on the potential hazards associated with “Medical Tourism” or treatment, elective or otherwise, at the Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.

The cautions and issues discussed in this graphic case study are meant to heighten the awareness of the citizens of the world regarding the dangers of “Medical Tourism”, elective procedures or otherwise, in hospitals worldwide which have been accredited by the Joint Commission or foreign medical institutions, in general.

For more information on Bumrungrad deaths and medical tourism, read the book, The American Medical Money Machine: The Destruction of Healthcare in America & The Rise of Medical Tourism by James R. Goldberg.