Medical tourism naturally leads to…medical disputes!

Last year, about 100,000 Chinese nationals went to South Korea for medical procedures, mostly to treat cancer, and for cosmetic surgery and skincare. The South China Morning Post reports that this has led to a spike in “medical disputes.”

• “Chinese nationals were behind the vast majority of medical disputes in South Korea over the past six years, making up nearly 70 percent of all cases involving foreigners in a major hotbed of Asian medical tourism.” Of a total of 810 disputes registered with the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency since 2013, 538 involved Chinese patients.
• Most disputes typically involved plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, and obstetrics.