Kidnapped Americans in Mexico put spotlight on "medical tourism"

The kidnapping of four U.S. citizens who traveled to Mexico last week is putting the spotlight on "medical tourism," or when people travel to other countries to receive medical care or buy prescription drugs, often at lower prices. 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday that the Americans had crossed the border to buy medicine and ended up caught in the crossfire between two armed groups. Separately, Zalandria Brown, of Florence, South Carolina, told The Associated Press her younger brother, Zindell Brown, was one of the four kidnapping victims and that one of them planned to undergo "tummy tuck" cosmetic surgery in Mexico.

The number of Americans traveling abroad for medical and dental care has surged in recent decades. Although that practice is deemed "risky" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency's concerns focus on medical issues, such as the risk of buying counterfeit medications or getting treatment from an unqualified professional, rather than on crime.