Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26215979›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2015

Inbound medical tourism to Barbados: a qualitative examination of local lawyers' prospective legal and regulatory concerns.

Valorie A Crooks, I Glenn Cohen, Krystyna Adams, Rebecca Whitmore, Jeffrey Morgan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Ethical considerations regarding medical tourism in Iran: a qualitative study.Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Government roles in regulating medical tourism: evidence from Guatemala.International journal for equity in health · 2018
    Article
  4. Ethical issues associated with medical tourism in Africa.Journal of market access & health policy · 2017
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Valorie A CrooksDepartment of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. crooks@sfu.ca.
I Glenn CohenHarvard Law School, Harvard University, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA. igcohen@law.harvard.edu.
Krystyna AdamsFaculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, Canada. kaa4@sfu.ca.
Rebecca WhitmoreDepartment of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. rwa13@sfu.ca.
Jeffrey MorganDepartment of Geography, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. jrmorgan@sfu.ca.

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research FRN 119355
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEnabled by globalizing processes such as trade liberalization, medical tourism is a practice that involves patients' intentional travel to privately obtain medical care in another country. Empirical legal research on this issue is limited and seldom based on the perspectives of destination countries receiving medical tourists. We consulted with diverse lawyers from across Barbados to explore their views on the prospective legal and regulatory implications of the developing medical tourism industry in the country.

methodsWe held a focus group in February 2014 in Barbados with lawyers from across the country. Nine lawyers with diverse legal backgrounds participated. Focus group moderators summarized the study objective and engaged participants in identifying the local implications of medical tourism and the anticipated legal and regulatory concerns. The focus group was transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically.

resultsFive dominant legal and regulatory themes were identified through analysis: (1) liability; (2) immigration law; (3) physician licensing; (4) corporate ownership; and (5) reputational protection.

conclusionsTwo predominant legal and ethical concerns associated with medical tourism in Barbados were raised by participants and are reflected in the literature: the ability of medical tourists to recover medical malpractice for adverse events; and the effects of medical tourism on access to health care in the destination country. However, the participants also identified several topics that have received much less attention in the legal and ethical literature. Overall this analysis reveals that lawyers, at least in Barbados, have an important role to play in the medical tourism sector beyond litigation - particularly in transactional and gatekeeper capacities. It remains to be seen whether these findings are specific to the ecology of Barbados or can be extrapolated to the legal climate of other medical tourism destination countries.

Indexed as

Government RegulationBarbadosDelivery of Health CareFemaleFocus GroupsHumansInternationalityLawyersMaleMalpracticeMedical TourismProspective StudiesQualitative Research

Identifiers

PMID26215979
PMCPMC4517313

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.