Prospect and Legal Challenges of Medical Tourism in Relation to the Advance Medical Directive (AMD) in Malaysia

Abstract

People fly for several reasons. One of the goals is to obtain medical attention. This idea is known as “medical tourism.” In defending this concept, the notion of medical tourism is one of the prospects of increasing industries that have rapidly grown in Malaysia and other countries. One of the factors that led to this trend is the propensity to pursue better medical care at a lower cost. Around the same time, certain patients in modern society have begun to provide input on their medical care in cases where they are unable to give consent. Advance Medical Directive (AMD) is a particular directive containing the desires of a knowledgeable patient regarding his or her future medical plans if he or she becomes incompetent or unable to make any decisions regarding his or her body. However, the concern that arises in the sense of medical tourism is whether there are applicable laws in Malaysia that will ensure that the AMD of patients is enforced. The art of AMD is still relatively new in the country and, as a result, the legal status on the AMD is still vague and uncertain. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to define the laws that can be applied in relation to AMD in the context of medical tourism. The approach used in this article is qualitative. It found that Malaysia did not have a clear legal framework for AMD within the scope of medical tourism. This article concludes that this legal challenge can be overcome by means of the special AMD regulations on medical tourism in Malaysia.