Mexico Medical Tourism: 'Worst Choice I Ever Made' Woman Recalls Botched Surgery Experience

Mexico's president claims that his nation is less dangerous than the United States, just days after four Americans were abducted and two of them died while trying to cross the border.

"Mexico is safer than the U.S., and there's no problem with traveling safely across Mexico," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said.

"That's something the U.S. citizens know, and something our fellow countrymen know. It's not that they're afraid. It's not that this violence you mention really exists, no. Its manipulation, pure and vile manipulation," he added.

To alert others to the risks, a U.S. lady is sharing her terrifying experience with Mexican medical tourism.

Justine Rodriguez told Fox News Digital this week that she felt "desperate" when she chose to undergo bariatric surgery in Tijuana in 2016.

The 37-year-old woman from Idaho claimed that because her insurance did not cover the $5,000 operation, she had to travel south of the border.

The incident, however, rapidly escalated into a crisis when Rodriguez encountered significant difficulties.

"I was nervous about the surgery, but like I said, I was desperate," says Justine Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was nearly 400 pounds when the Idaho native decided to get weight-loss surgery.

"That was probably the worst choice I ever made in my life," Rodriguez said.

Although Rodriguez, now 37, had a $5,000 surgery in 2016, it had serious consequences.

"My lungs collapsed. My kidneys and my liver were going. The infection went to my brain," says Rodriguez.

Since two Americans were killed following a brutal, open daylight kidnapping just over the Texas border in Matamoros earlier this month, the risks of medical tourism have come under increased scrutiny.

In Mexico, the medical tourism industry is flourishing. Over a million Americans cross the line annually to receive elective procedures at up to 70% less cost.

The most frequent medical treatments, according to Patients Beyond Borders, are dental surgery, cosmetic surgeries, and weight-loss operations.

Patients Beyond Borders writes a guide to international medical travel.

Josef Woodman, CEO of the medical tourism guidebook "Patients Beyond Borders," says she and Rodriguez are among the droves of Americans drawn to other countries to receive cheaper treatments.

"Pre-pandemic, some 1.2 million American citizens traveled to Mexico for elective medical treatment," Woodman said, reports New York Post.

"We got used to patients being pretty much 100% safe when they crossed the border, even into dangerous territories," he said.

"The money is not worth it," she said. "It's not worth your life."

However, Rodriguez contended that the risks outweigh any possible advantages.