Matthew R. Carreira
Case Study: Should patients advocate using medical tourism to find alternate means of health care?
Dr. Fabio Solano is the director of stem cell research at San Jose’s CIMA Hospital located in Costa Rica, Central America. Dr. Solano and other close colleagues, such as highly respected Dr. Orlando Morales who works for Costa Rica’s University of Medical Science, keenly believe in the power of stem cell treatment.
Dr. Jack Kessler, an expert in stem cell research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, firmly believes there are many misconceptions and unjustified scientific studies in regards to stem cell research and its accomplishments.
However, Jennifer Blankenship, a 49 year old from Denver, Colorado, has been suffering with multiple sclerosis. For the last two years Mrs. Blankenship has been severely struggling with the ability to speak, along with showing signs of partial paralyzation. Despite her unfortunate chronic medical diagnosis, she is determined to prove United States medical doctors otherwise.
Mrs. Blankenship has resorted to medical tourism as United States medical prices escalate making it difficult for Americans to pursue proper health care benefits at an affordable rate.
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Financially it made sense for Mrs. Blankenship to travel to Costa Rica as medical institutions in the United States want to charge $100, 000 to $150, 000 dollars. On the other hand, in Costa Rica you can get the identical procedure done for about $10,000 dollars. Blankenship said that within hours of her first IV injection, “I started moving my left leg, which I hadn’t moved for years” (Leff, 2009).
When following up for her second doctor visit she showed drastic progress towards a positive recovery. On her second visit she was injected with roughly 200 million stem cells. Concluding her trip to Costa Rica for stem cell injections, eager to help alleviate her multiple sclerosis, she was able to slowly walk again. She encouraged herself to take five steps and slowly began to take up to nine fully completed steps. She was astounded by the results and was excited to show her physical therapist and neurologist the major impact that stem cell injections have had on her
life. According to Solano, “Americans already make up close to 90% of stem cell patients at CIMA Hospital” (Leff, 2009). Dr. Solano and his team have treated over 400 patients using stem cell research, reassuring they have concrete evidence in their medical treatment. Dr. Solano and Dr. Morales are working to convince patients globally that stem cell research is considered the new miracle worker. The medical field is continuously evolving in different perspectives which may benefit patients; patients now have the option of exploring different types of health care, which may be found at a more financially affordable price. Health care is being placed in the hands of the patient; they are able to decide which doctor or type of medical treatment they will pursue and where. For cases such as Mrs. Blankenship, other Americans have the right to medical tourism as it is a growing industry that gives patients an alternative option to avoid skyrocketing medical bills by traveling internationally for medical care. The patient’s main goal is to seek treatment opportunities at a lower marginal cost, while sustaining high quality health care. Is medical tourism the proper resolution to receiving health care at a cheaper price?
T. Paulette Sutton is one of the world’s leading experts in bloodstains and is the former Assistant Director of Forensic Services and Director of Investigations at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. She has been involved in nationally known murder cases and has worked hard during her long career to make a position contribution to the legal system. Sutton says, “Its best for my fellow man that we get the killers off the street.” Since 2006 Sutton has been officially retired but continues to teach, consult, and testify about her area of expertise.
On August 23, 1980 in Conroe, Texas, is 40 miles north of Houston, a 16-year-old girl, Cheryl Fergeson, disappeared while searching for a women’s restroom at Conroe High School (Gores, 1991). Cheryl was the manager of the Bellville High girls’ volleyball team visiting Conroe High School for a preseason scrimmage. Later that day while searching for the girl two janitors, Clarence Brandley who is black, and Henry Peace who is white, found the girl’s body hidden under some scenery flats in the loft above the auditorium stage. Cheryl has been raped and strangled to death. Clarence and Henry were interrogated and made to sign statements. The two janitors were then taken to the hospital and made to give sperm, blood, and hair samples from their head
Rosa Lee Cunningham is a 52-year old African American female. She is 5-foot-1-inch, 145 pounds. Rosa Lee is married however, is living separately from her husband. She has eight adult children, Bobby, Richard, Ronnie, Donna (Patty), Alvin, Eric, Donald (Ducky) and one child who name she did not disclose. She bore her eldest child at age fourteen and six different men fathered her children. At Rosa Lee’s recent hospital admission to Howard University Hospital emergency room blood test revealed she is still using heroin. Though Rosa Lee recently enrolled in a drug-treatment program it does not appear that she has any intention on ending her drug usage. When asked why she no longer uses heroin she stated she doesn’t always have the resources to support her addiction. Rosa Lee is unemployed and receiving very little in government assistance. She appears to
On October 13th I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Sandi Lopez. Lopez is from Grand Island, Nebraska and has also lived in Kansas for a few years. At first she was not quite sure on what to do with her career pathway. She wanted a job where she could be able to help others and her community. Lopez says that having many of her friends being police officers is what got her more into law enforcement. She says hanging out around her friends telling her stories about being officers made her really want to be a part of the law enforcement department. However, she says it was a very hard decision to make knowing the fact that she would have to work long hours and being with her family was very important to her. In the end, she decided
The wide range of prospective uses for stem cells could greatly improve the health and wellbeing of many people. In stem cell treatments, undifferentiated cells are programmed to form specific cells, which can then be transplanted to the afflicted area. Stems cells can possibly treat afflictions including “Alzheimer’s diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis” (“Stem Cell Basics”). Another important use is in drug testing. Drugs can be tested on stem cells that develop into the target tissue before using it on human test subjects, which improves safety. Finally, transplantation of organs created from stem cells could eliminate the need for human...
The primary diagnosis for Amanda Anderson is separation anxiety disorder (SAD) with a co-morbidity of school phobia. Separation anxiety disorder is commonly the precursor to school phobia, which is “one of the two most common anxiety disorders to occur during childhood, and is found in about 4% to 10% of all children” (Mash & Wolfe, 2010, p. 198). Amanda is a seven-year-old girl and her anxiety significantly affects her social life. Based on the case study, Amanda’s father informs the therapist that Amanda is extremely dependent on her mother and she is unenthusiastic when separated from her mother. Amanda was sitting on her mother’s lap when the therapist walked in the room to take Amanda in her office for an interview (Morgan, 1999, p. 1).
" An Overview of Stem Cell Research | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity."
CM: These are the words of “James Thomson, the fore-most stem cell researcher in the United States,” and for a head person to proclaim his own profession as he did is almost mortifying. He basically admitted that the process is indeed twisted and downright awful to think about.
Over the past decade scientist and the U.S government have been debating about funds for stem cell research (SCR), the amount spent depends on who is in office. The Democratic Party fully supports SCR, but the Republican Party somewhat opposes the concept of SCR, arfuing it violates the Christian principle of life. As a result, this topic is considered controversial, but also beneficial if allowed. Despite the controversy, SCR should be well funded for medicinal use, because blank stem cells (SC) can be used to regenerate bones and muscle tissue, they can be used to control or even reverse neurodegenerative disease, and because they can be used for therapeutic cloning.
Scientists would be able to grow spinal cells from pluripotent stem cells. These cells could possibly repair spinal cord damage. Those afflicted by paralysis, such as Christopher Reeve, could possibly move again. Stem cells could also be used to grow nerve cells, possibly combating Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s. While it will be many years before scientists may actually be able to find a way to combat these diseases, there is a great promise in stem cells.
Imagine that there is a cure for nearly every ailment that affects the human race. Imagine that you could help the terminally ill, put those you love out of pain, and cut the healing time of an enormous number of serious illnesses in half. Imagine a world in which pain and suffering would be nearly nonexistent, and the people you love can live safe from the fear of crippling injury. Now what if I told you that this utopia was a fast approaching reality? Everything from serious life threatening burns to lymphoma, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Muscular Dystrophy, Parkinson’s Disease, Spinal Cord Injury, and Strokes could, in the very near future, be eliminated through the simple culturing and implementation of stem cell therapy . These diseases are no small component of the myriad of conditions that plagues the human race, and yet, the end for these horrible maladies could very well be in sight. Man has always sought to end suffering, largely without success, until now. the promise that stem cell therapy holds could completely change our world for the better. Already, stem cell therapy is being used to treat leukemia, immune disorders, hodgkins and non-hodgkins lymphoma, anemia and a profusion of other ailments. As you all know, this is no small accomplishment. One day i believe that we may look at alzheimer's and diabetes and other major illnesses much like we look at polio today, as a treatable illness. Right now, our research with stem cells is providing us with new light into how we look at and model disease, our ability to understand why we get sick and even to develop new drugs. In 2008, a researcher from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Laborato...
Monroe, Kristen, et al., eds. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate: The Scientific, Religious, Ethical and Political Issues. Los Angeles/Berkley: University of California Press, 2008. Print
The case study of Kathryn Carlson and Andy Randolph was about a third grade student who was having trouble academically and behaviourally. This case study follows the life of Andy, the third grade student, and Kathryn, a special needs educator, as they decide whether or not Andy should receive his IEP in the fourth grade.
While medical tourism is often generalized to travel from high-income countries to low-cost developing economies, other factors can influence a decision to travel as well, including diferences between the funding of public healtcare or general access to healthcare.