Medical Packages in Mexico Offer Alternative Health Remedies

Affordable Health Care for the Unorthodox

For some cancer patients, medical packages in Mexico are one way to find alternative, affordable health care.  Just across the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico, a controversial clinic called the Bio-Medical Center caters to foreign cancer patients seeking affordable health care.  The Bio-Medical Center, also known as the Hoxsey Clinic, was founded in 1963 by an American to treat cancer patients with a “liquid elixir containing a mixture of herbs and several topical salves” along with nutritional supplements and chelation therapy.  Nevada resident Norberto Fanuele is an example of how health tourism in short term care facilities attracts those who seek alternative medical treatment.

Medical Packages in Mexico Popular Since the 1970s

Fanuele embarked on his health tourism trip at the famous Hoxsey short term care facilities because it offered affordable health care he believed in, but could not find in the United States.  Despite the fact that the Bio-Medical Center was briefly closed by Mexican authorities in 2000, and the clinic is described as a “quack” by doctors in the U.S., Fanuele states, "When I come here, I feel comfortable. I feel at peace." Fanuele’s attraction to health tourism in Mexico is shared by thousands of Americans who have been crossing the border since the 1970s.

The Risk for Affordable Health Care across the Border

The cost of medical packages in Mexico offering unorthodox medicine is usually paid entirely by the patient.  Many American doctors have the opinion that Mexicans clinics could not survive legally if they attempted to provide the same low cost treatments in the U.S.  Another criticism is that patients who choose health tourism in Mexican short term treatment facilities are not provided with the necessary data to judge whether treatments are safe or effective.  Ignoring the advice of critics, Americans like Norberto Fanuele cross the border because anything is possible, especially when it is your last chance to beat cancer.

Source: Dahleen Glanton, “Carrying Their Last Hopes, Ill Americans Cross Border,” Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2006