Revisiting the Ethics of Circumvention Tourism.

In the context of medical tourism, circumvention tourism consists of traveling abroad with the intention of participating in a health-related activity that is prohibited in one's own country but not in the destination country. This practice raises a host of legal and ethical questions that focus on how the traveler should be treated once they have returned home. Joshua Shaw deftly shows that the question of whether circumvention tourists should be punished in their home countries is not something that can be answered in principle and without reference to the morality of the prohibition.

Unpacking the financial costs of "bariatric tourism" gone wrong: Who holds responsibility for costs to the Canadian health care system?

Canadians are motivated to travel abroad for bariatric surgery owing to wait times for care and restrictions on access at home for various reasons. While such surgery abroad is typically paid for privately, if "bariatric tourists" experience complications or have other essential medical needs upon their return to Canada, these costs are borne by the publicly funded health system. In this commentary, we discuss why assigning responsibility for the costs of complications stemming from bariatric tourism is complicated and contextual.