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Monday 23 August 2010

MRSA, veterinarians and travel insurance

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We can be quite certain that MRSA, especially in veterinarians, will become an issue for travel insurance as the showdown between government and vets in Denmark goes worldwide. See MRSA - Danish Minister whistle-blows

Insurance is a matter of the utmost good faith. The insured must tell the insurer every relevant fact, whether asked or otherwise .

You can see the first stirring of a now superbug ridden world hitting travel insurance. 

A vet boarding a plane knowing that they may have or be carrying MRSA by reason of their profession, and failing to declare it, is going to be without cover now.

Maybe insurance has not picked up on the potential problem yet, but they will.

The prudent careful veterinarian is going to be informing a baffled insurance company. Baffled now, but they will soon catch on that somebody is wisely telling them something they need to know.

Once the insurance industry works out that veterinarians are a risk, the vet will no longer get the chance to forget to tell them. It will become a direct question: "When were you last tested for MRSA?"

No test, will mean "no flying with insurance": soon to become "no fly at all."  Attendance at the veterinary conferences and drug company jollies will become something of the past without extra documentation, at the very least.

The veterinary industry is not going to win this one. The still under-published events in Denmark are merely the opening shots in what will become an even bigger problem for vets than for the rest of us.

Plenty of drug profits in the bank and the inability or extra formalities to travel by air is one of life's little ironies.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/08/prweb4412544.htm


Monday, August 23, 2010


Medical Tourists Infected by Indian Superbug Would be Excluded from Travel Insurance, Squaremouth Warns

A new antibiotic-resistant superbug isn't the only risk to Americans who travel abroad for cheaper surgery or medical treatment: 'medical tourism' typically is excluded from travel insurance coverage -- and is grounds to deny any claim arising from the trip, not just for health-related expenses, warns Squaremouth.com, America's fastest growing comparison website for travel insurance…