We commence today with Chapter 4 of Beauty from Afar, for which I half apologized in advance. I really needn’t have, now that I look at it again. Immodestly, I don’t mind saying that I like the way it starts out, and I have Joseph Cohen, M.D., of the Rosenstock-Lieberman Center for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery in San Jose, Costa Rica, to thank for that.
Chapter 4 Page 1 | You’re Going Abroad for…What !?
Dr. Cohen’s candor made him a terrific person to interview on the subject of what surgical procedures people go overseas for, and why; that he, a prominent cosmetic surgeon in Costa Rica, would consider going to the U.S. (hypothetically) for his own care, under certain circumstances, I think makes for a nice balance in a book that is mostly about people going in the other direction. And it gives him credibility.
We’ve now covered 76 pages of the original text of Beauty from Afar, which has worked out to 37 web pages. That seems about right to me … and it means I’m about a third done, which feels substantial.
I’ve mostly resisted the journalistic urge to step too far outside the boundaries of the book, but anyone interested in the business of medical tourism ought to go read Brendan Borrell’s Reuters story, published today:
Controversial couple dominates U.S. medical tourism
I don’t see how this has any real impact on patients, mind you, or I’d be more concerned. As a nascent “industry,” though, medical tourism has not traveled all that far since I first wrote about it in 2004-2005. The squabbles are a little bigger.
