Travel insurance specialist speaks to BBC Radio 4 about the legal implications of medical tourism

Posted: 07/02/2025

A surge in the number of people travelling abroad for surgery over the last decade has led to a rise in claims for damages resulting from botched medical procedures. Penningtons Manches Cooper’s travel law partner Mark Lee was invited to talk to BBC Radio 4’s afternoon news and current affairs programme, PM, on Monday 3 February to highlight how medical expenses and repatriation costs resulting from complications in treatment abroad are not covered by standard travel insurance policies. 

“Even if there is cover,” said Mark, “ordinarily it does not extend to any treatment back in the UK. Some clinics are even running, effectively, package trips for surgery, flights and accommodation, but they are changing their models to try to avoid the rise in claims." 

Although there are potential legal remedies, Mark explained that these are often fraught with difficulties. “Even if you get a judgment [in the UK], you may then have to try and enforce it in the foreign jurisdiction, which can take a long time and be very expensive. If you try to run the claim in Turkey, for example, the damages there are very low and cases can run for years, so it's very difficult to try and recover damages."

The Radio 4 interview focused on medical tourism in Turkey with good reason. The Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office considered the situation there so serious in 2022 that it issued a travel advisory bulletin regarding medical tourism specifically in that jurisdiction. At the time, it knew of 22 British nationals who had died following botched surgery in Turkey over the previous three years.

A recent increase of over 90 per cent in people requiring hospital treatment in the UK following cosmetic surgery abroad has also been attributed primarily to procedures that took place in Turkey. These alarming statistics underline the importance of speaking to an insurance broker before embarking on treatment of this type to ensure adequate cover should something go wrong.

To hear the Radio 4 interview in full and learn more about the legal and financial ramifications of unsuccessful medical treatment abroad, click here (you can listen to Mark’s insights from 42:30 onwards).

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