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The clearest red flags are claims you cannot verify and promises no honest provider makes. Watch for accreditation you cannot check, promised outcomes, pressure to pay quickly, offers to find an organ donor, surrogacy offers to foreign nationals, visa shortcuts and estimates that do not say what is excluded. Each one is a reason to stop and check.
IndiaMedicaRed flags when choosing where to be treatedWhy do these signs matter?
Medical travel decisions are made at a distance. You cannot walk the wards first. So the quality of the information you receive is the main safeguard. Each red flag points to information that is missing, unverifiable or against Indian law.
How can you check claims yourself?
- Search the hospital on the NABH public directory at nabh.co.
- Search the doctor on the National Medical Commission’s Indian Medical Register by name or registration number.
- Check that an IVF clinic appears on the National ART and Surrogacy Registry.
- Read the e-Visa rules on the official portal rather than a third-party site.
Which offers are against the law?
For transplants, foreign patients can only receive a living-donor organ from a near relative. The donor’s embassy must certify the relationship on Form 21, and a hospital authorisation committee reviews the case. Anyone offering to find a donor is describing an illegal act. Under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 a couple means a legally married Indian man and woman, and commercial surrogacy is prohibited.
What should an honest facilitator tell you?
It should say how it is paid. IndiaMedica discloses that partner hospitals pay it a referral fee when a patient it introduces is treated. The fee does not change your price or decide which hospitals are suggested. It does not invent testimonials, ratings, outcome figures or prices. It does not offer visa shortcuts.
When in doubt
Pause, ask for the claim in writing and check it against the official source. A genuine provider will wait while you do.
Questions people ask
Is a low estimate a red flag?
Not on its own. Check what it includes and excludes, how long a stay it assumes and what could change the final bill. A very short estimate with no exclusions is harder to trust than a detailed one.
What if a facilitator says the referral fee is zero?
Ask how they are paid. Facilitators earn money somehow, through hospitals, patients or both. A clear written answer is a good sign. Vague replies are not. IndiaMedica publishes how it is paid on its own site.
Sources
- IndiaMedica – How we work
- IndiaMedica – Organ transplant
- India Code – Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021
- National Medical Commission – Indian Medical Register
General information, not medical or legal advice. Rules change: confirm with the official source. How we write and check.