Mexico kidnapping: How a million medical tourists cross border each year

The recent high-profile kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico exposes the increasingly popular and dangerous trend of medical tourism, experts warn.

The four kidnapping victims, two of whom are now dead, were in Matamoros, in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, doing what more than a million Americans do each year — seeking cut-price cosmetic surgery.

Three of them were accompanying a friend seeking a tummy tuck, which costs roughly $8,800 in the US but is half the price in Mexico. Around 1.2million Americans travel south for affordable care each year, according to Medical Tourism Mexico, nearly double the figure a decade ago.

Many medical experts have connected an increase in trips abroad to unrealistic beauty standards on social media. The Kardashians’ trademark curves are often referenced by patients entering plastic surgery consultation rooms.