International Second Opinion (from Canada)

I opened up a case in early December 2025 for my 15 year old daughter to get
A second opinion of her wrist, due to a fall. We come from Canada and this would be done through the International Office. We have no insurance. We would have to pay for everything out of pocket.

We began the process and were instructed to send the reports and images we had. The first email says, "Please send us any medical records or other relevant information." No mention of cost.

The second email says nothing about a cost either. The third email says, "A physician from one of our specialties will review your medical records to determine if Mayo Clinic can provide additional benefit. There is no cost for this record review." In that same email, there is a statement that says, "You may incur charges if radiology and/or pathology slides need to be reviewed by a radiologist and/or pathologist." But, there's no sense of what it could possibly cost.

We did send images and we sent the radiologist's reports with each one. So, to determine IF the Mayo Clinic could even consider taking my daughter as a case, shouldn't really have required another radiologist to interpret the images.

So, we got an invitation for an appointment. All I had to do was give $10,000 US as a "pre-service deposit" to be able to
schedule in-person appointments. No indication is made as to what anything could cost. No estimate of the cost of a doctor visit, an x-ray, a blood test, etc. Essentially, we will charge you what we want and you agree to it all.

Well, this is a lot of money and we decided to look elsewhere, primarily because there was no minimum or maximum cost provided. I can't agree to something if I don't have a clue as to what it could possibly cost. After all, I was only looking for an opinion.

Today (Jan 14th) I received a bill for $1099 USD for reading the CT and MRI I sent ($1537 CAN). Being Canadian, where we don't pay for anything related to medical/hospital care, this is surprising and simply amazing as I wasn't notified it was going to happen. I was only told it may happen and I may get a bill. No one asked me to proceed/approve at this incredibly high cost. I would have said no if asked. I don't understand why the images i sent would require another radiologist to interpret them when I sent it with the original images. By the way, the reports were interpreted but I wasn't notified until I received the bill today and I did not receive a copy of the written report.

We have sought other opinions from around the world, including other US-based hospitals. Everywhere else, they have given a cost for a "second opinion" up front and they stick to it. With the Europeans, we have had online appointments with surgeons and specialists, with no fee assessed (they were provided the same reports and images as we sent Mayo).

So, for fellow Canadians and any international patients - proceed with caution. There is no regard for your money. The Mayo Clinic will charge you anything they want without seeking approval first.