Robin Cook's <i>Foreign Body</i> Highlighted in <i>The Economist</i>
August 2008 – Author and Wilson Center Board of Trustees Member Examines Medical Tourism in Newest Novel
Wilson Center board member and bestselling author Robin Cook's newest novel, Foreign Body, is featured in the August 14, 2008, edition of The Economist. Cook's novel traces the story of a working-class American, Maria Hernandez, who travels to New Delhi for a hip replacement operation that she cannot afford in America.
Historically, medical tourism has been available only to the rich, but today, the review notes, we face the prospect of "a boom in mass medical tourism," as American health care costs rise while quality falls. According to The Economist, Americans traveling abroad to receive medical treatment are expected to number 10 million by 2012, up from 750,000 last year, and to contribute more than $20 billion annually to developing-country economies.
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