Thursday evening my teenage daughter asked me to help her review for an AP U.S. Government exam on the Bill of Rights. That she was studying the first amendment and the freedom of religion seemed fortuitous: the following morning I was to board an early morning flight...
Several years ago, during an annual mammogram, my wife, who is in her 40s, was told a mass had been found in one of her breasts. Anxious and uncertain, she had a biopsy, and we braced for the worst. My father-in-law, when in his 50s, went through a similarly harrowing...
My 64-year-old patient with terminal cancer and less than six months to live wanted to go to Oregon. He was contemplating assisted suicide, which is legal there. “My life has been long and good,” he said. “I believe it is my right. I want the ability to say it’s too...
Some years ago, a nurse paged me at 3 a.m. from the hospital because a patient of mine had spiked a high fever. Suspecting an infection, I called in antibiotics. A few hours later, the frantic nurse called to say my patient had turned red and was wheezing, likely from...
Since my childhood, I have believed that both petty and global conflicts can be resolved through the power of nonviolence. In school, when a kid bullied me, my parents told me, “Never hit back.” Since I was puny — 90 pounds in ninth grade —...
Regarding Aidan Foster-Carter’s “To Catch a Roach” (Meanwhile, Sept. 27): Last Saturday night, coming home from a party, we found a roach, a spider and an ant in our kitchen. Gently, I got the roach to climb on to the bristle part of the broom; my wife captured the...
The first question my friends asked last week after we watched the new movie “Contagion” was: “Can this really happen?” I should know. I am an infectious disease doctor. “Not only can this happen, but it could be happening right...
Not long ago, when my father was about to undergo a heart procedure, I hinted to the cardiologist, a colleague, that I wanted to be there, too, not just to offer comfort but also to be present for the play-by-play that would lead to a critical decision: whether to...
Interviewed on : August 18, 2011 Dr Manoj Jain is an Infectious Disease Specialist talking about the deadly brain infection that occurs after swimming in warm fresh water that killed a 9-year-old boy in Virginia and 16-year-old girl in Florida. view video
Published: August 15, 2011 by Dr. Manoj JainWhen my patient, a middle-age working woman and mother of three, was admitted to the hospital for shortness of breath, I told her she had a choice: “You can live for three to four years, or you can live for 30 to 40...
About a decade ago when I was newly settled into private practice in Memphis, a representative for a drug company marketing a new and powerful antibiotic stood in my office and asked whether I would like to attend a consultants’ meeting about the drug in...
Interviewed on 29th June, 2011 Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Manoj Jain discussing if we should be worried about the Scarlet Fever outbreak that is happening now..
Published: June 13, 2011 by Dr. Manoj Jain My patient’s hospital breakfast plate lay inches away from his freshly cracked and wired sternum, underneath which his clotted arteries were bypassed. On one side of the plate lay brown slices of bacon; on the other...
Medical schools strive to teach students the importance of good bedside manner in communicating with their patients. But sometimes, in the midst of examinations, paperwork and delivering difficult news, showing compassion can become an afterthought for doctors and...
Published: May 16, 2011Last Monday evening, our family headed out to see the “flood of the century,” as the mighty Mississippi crested in Memphis. From afar, trunk-less treetops appeared as shrubs and tall telephone posts had become stumps. And, up-close,...
I was standing at my patient’s bedside. Mike Venata was having chills with a temperature of 103. Sweat covered his balding scalp like dew, then coalesced and rolled down past his staring eyes. Just 20 minutes earlier, a specialist had informed him that he had...
A recent comment by President Obama has caused a stir in India. Below are some press clips. “My preference would be that you don’t have to travel to Mexico or India for cheap healthcare,” he said in response to a question about why US health...
This week in the Commercial Appeal I talk about my lunch conversation with my daughter, who is a freshman in college. Hope you enjoy it: Freshman year in college is life-changing, but more often lifestyle-determining. For the first time in their lives, young adults,...
Medical tourism Re: “The future of American medicine may be offshore” [Apr. 5]: The interest in getting much less costly health care overseas is understandable. But what happens to a patient who has major surgery in India, for example, has immediate post-op care there...
Over the week I am received numerous emails about how many of you have received low cost high quality care in Mexico, India, and South America. Also, there have been concerns about the follow up and quality of care.Market forces are powerful and the wind of medical...
Little while ago I wrote about my trip to Indore, India and compared it with the problems and issues we face in Memphis. HERE IT IS: Memphis and Indore – my homes I have been away — 8,500 miles away in India, where I was born and lived until age 10....
When my father had a toothache, he saw a dentist in Boston who recommended a root canal and dental crown costing about $2,000. He decided to wait until he was in India, his native land, for holidays and had the procedure done there for $200. Extremely satisfied with...
Published: March 06, 2011 Daniel Talley was my first patient the morning after Congress passed health care reform a year ago. Talley is a soft-spoken truck driver and for most of the past 10 years has endured two kinds of pain: needle stabs from insulin injections to...
Published: February 14, 2011by Dr. Manoj JainA decade and a half ago, when I moved to Memphis, I proudly hung a sign outside an office I shared with another doctor. It had my name followed by an MD. I had started my own small business as a solo practitioner in...
Published: December 20, 2010 Some years ago, I got a call at 3 a.m. from the hospital because a patient of mine had spiked a high fever. Suspecting an infection, I called in some antibiotics. A few hours later, a frantic nurse called to say my patient had turned red...
Answers to rising health costs will be found in local communities, with doctors, hospitals and patients taking new roles in the delivery of care.I took a penlight, peered into my daughter’s mouth and saw two fiery-red, cherry-sized tonsils.”My throat is...
On an unusually quiet Sunday afternoon in the intensive care unit, Memphian Kristen Sharp lay in bed attached to a heart pump. Her tightly braided hair was pulled to the side of her thin, brown face. She gave me a beaming smile. It was Halloween day, and life had...
There are no A’s or F’s, but a new doctor ranking system is in place in the Bluff City and its creators are hoping it will improve healthcare. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation teamed up with Healthy Memphis Common Table to publish the results for...
Nearly a decade ago when I was newly settled into private practice in Memphis, a drug representative for a new and powerful antibiotic stood in my office and asked whether I would like to attend a consultants’ meeting about the drug in Washington. He said I was...
Published: October 18, 2010 A nurse who tracks hospital infections displayed her name tag with a green dot. “It means I have had my flu shot this year.” We were at a meeting strategizing on how to reduce hospital infections through initiatives such as...
Published: October 11, 2010I was standing at the bedside of a patient who was having shaking chills with a temperature of 103. Sweat covered his balding scalp like dew, then coalesced and rolled down his neck like raindrops. Just 20 minutes earlier, a specialist had...
Like many people, I sometimes find myself in buildings or grand auditoriums that are named for individuals whom I know little about. But that was not the case last Thursday when I attended the inauguration of the Dr. H. Edward Garrett Sr. Auditorium at Baptist...
Published: September 20, 2010 Like many people, I sometimes find myself in buildings or grand auditoriums that are named for individuals whom I know little about. But that was not the case last Thursday when I attended the inauguration of the Dr. H. Edward Garrett Sr....
Published: September 06, 2010 My medical partner, a soft-spoken and caring man with more than a decade of clinical experience, has encountered patients who have threatened to sue him. So when I told him I’d received a letter from a patient’s widow who...
Published: September 05, 2010 Some months ago at my office, my receptionist handed me a registered letter. The name on the envelope seemed familiar. “Dear Sir,” I read. “Please be advised that this letter serves as official notice that I am...
Some months ago, the receptionist in my clinic handed me a registered letter. The name of the sender seemed familiar. “Dear Sir,” the letter read. “Please be advised that this letter serves as official notice that I am considering a potential claim...
Even with malpractice insurance, doctors opt for expensive, defensive medicine Some months ago, the receptionist in my clinic handed me a registered letter. The name of the sender seemed familiar. “Dear Sir,” the letter read. “Please be advised that...
Published: August 23, 2010 “A vacation is not a luxury but a necessity; it keeps us healthy and living longer.” Try that line the next time you are negotiating vacation days with your boss. Then, quote this research to support your point.Read...
Published: August 16, 2010 A few weeks ago a young woman was admitted to the hospital with a raging fever, excessive urination and back pain. I prescribed an antibiotic for a kidney infection, and over the next several days I watched her improve and go home. As a...
Published: July 19, 2010 The new director of one of the largest health insurance systems in the world has been hired. He will manage health insurance for 90 million enrollees — including many Memphians — and wield funds of more than $800 billion —...
Published: June 28, 2010 I have fond childhood memories of my summer vacations in India playing soccer (we called it football), cricket and marbles in the relentless 100-degree heat.Often, it was under the setting sun and as kids, we were unaffected by the heat. Read...
Published: June 07, 2010 Last week, my oldest daughter graduated from high school and began her journey as a young adult. As a proud parent and the commencement speaker, I shared some life lessons with the class of 2010. Here is some of what I said: Read...
Published: May 10, 2010 For every 1,000 babies born in Memphis, 12 die. This is double the national rate and similar to that of some developing countries like Sri Lanka and Jamaica. Read More
Published: April 27, 2010 I rehearsed my lines as I drove up to an office in Midtown. I was meeting with a doctor who had been rated poorly by his patients. Memphis is one of three cities where Consumers’ Checkbook, a nonprofit national consumer organization,...
Published: April 26, 2010 Dr. John Buttross reached over his office desk to shake my hand. He has a warm smile and a salt-and-pepper mustache. Buttross was rated one of the top primary care doctors in Memphis on a doctor-rating survey recently made public at...
Published: April 25, 2010 Doctors play a unique role in our lives. They ask us to undress, and then they lay their hands on our bodies. They give us drugs that alter our minds. We trust our doctors as much as we trust our spouses — sometimes more. Read...
Published: April 12, 2010 A close friend of mine, Tapan Thakur, died last week. As I tried to go about my routine of seeing patients or having dinner with my kids, no more than five minutes would pass before my thoughts would revert to him. Read More
Published: March 19, 2010 I don’t want to discuss the polarizing politics of the health care reform bill, which is now a law. Rather, I want to answer one fundamental question that my patients and my peers have asked me. “What’s in it?” Read...
A decade and a half ago, when I started my solo practice, I would say to my routine HIV patients, “Let’s see you back in three months.” I was eager to fill clinic slots; also, because of my lack of experience, I felt safer seeing my patients more...
Published: March 08, 2010 At 9 p.m. most nights, I put my reluctant 10-year-old son to bed. He frets and frowns, saying “I can’t sleep when I am alone,” but readily agrees when I offer to stay. Read More
President Obama’s declaration that the swine flu is a national emergency is supposed to give more flexibility for how the outbreak is handled. So what exactly does that mean? Fredricka Whitfield put that question to Dr. Manoj Jain, an infectious disease...
Last winter, a few months before the first outbreak of H1N1 flu, my 13-year-old became ill, first with a cough and runny nose, and then with low-grade fever and nasal congestion. It was not severe enough to have her miss school, but we had her skip indoor soccer...
Published: August 04, 2009 A seasoned pulmonologist shakes his head. “Let’s face it, we already ration care.” And, pausing ever so slightly, he begins his story. “This family of an 80-year-old gentleman came to me a few days after he was...
To the Editor : “Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health,” by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, March 12), addresses a topic of paramount importance, the epidemic of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in our community. Mr. Kristof draws an association between the...
Published: March 17, 2009 “Our conference was being held over lunch, but Pat, a middle-aged health-care consultant, did not touch a bite of her food. When I asked if something was wrong, she revealed her lifelong battle with Crohn’s disease, an...
Published: February 17, 2009 “Did you know that women live longer than men?” I asked my wife. Of course she did — and not just because, like me, she is a physician. Anybody who walks into a nursing home can see the imbalance. Most people’s...
Published: February 10, 2009 I was skeptical when my hospital embarked several years ago on an initiative to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections in our intensive care unit. These are infections that originate from the tubes and catheters inserted into...
Published: December 09, 2008 Ten years ago, an intelligent, reserved software engineer — a woman with the complexion of Halle Berry and the physique of a marathoner — came to my infectious-disease clinic, accompanied by her fiance. They’d been...
Published: November 25, 2008 Last month at a luncheon marking International Infection Prevention Week at the National Press Club, some speakers reminded me of a shameful and frightening statistic: Almost 60 percent of American health-care workers do not receive the...
Why the Presidential Race Should Skirt The Doctor’s OfficePublished: October 28, 2008 A few weeks ago, as I was making rounds on the oncology floor, one of my patients asked, out of the blue, “Hey, Doc, who you gonna vote for?”I would have expected...
Lack of Compensation Can Tempt Doctors to Tailor Their Care to a Patient’s CoveragePublished: October 14, 2008 When I walked into the hospital room of a 19-year-old woman, a foul smell all but overwhelmed me. I called a nurse to assist me and saw her, too, catch...
Published: September 16, 2008 From the patient’s point of view, doctors and hospital officials can seem to be a monolithic medical power structure. But in fact, physicians and administrators often do not see eye to eye.Read More
Published: September 14, 2008 Often at a family gathering or a social event the conversation moves to the issue of “how to live longer?” And I respond in no uncertain terms. “The elixir of long life is pretty simple — exercise, eat well, avoid stress, stop smoking and...
We Need Carrots and Sticks to Reduce Infection RatesPublished: August 05, 2008 One morning on hospital rounds, I saw a physician colleague enter the intensive care unit where a patient lay intubated and sedated. With his hands unwashed and ungloved, the physician...
Published: August 05, 2008 “I have been waiting to see you, and I want answers now,” my patient said angrily as I entered her hospital room.Like a silent guard, her husband stood three feet from her, costumed in olive-green gloves and a bright yellow paper gown. Read...
Published: July 15, 2008 Last summer, my oldest daughter, Sapna, passed a multiple-choice driver’s exam, secured a learner’s permit and asked to sit in the driver’s seat. This was a source of concern for me. As an epidemiologist, it is my job to look...
Published: June 22, 2008 Iam a doctor of Indian origin working in Memphis Tennessee, which is often referred to as the buckle of the Bible belt. My patient is an elderly man with end-stage congestive heart failure, kidney failure and now an infected dialysis line, and...
My patient is an elderly man with end-stage congestive heart failure, kidney failure and now an infected dialysis line, and he is unlikely to live more than six months. The Bible lies on his bedside table next to his hospital breakfast tray and the morning newspaper....
Published: May 11, 2008 Occasionally forgetting where you left your car or scooter keys or being unable to recall the name of a distant acquaintance are normal memory lapses. However, frequent spells of forgetting names and places or repeating stories, phrases and...
Published: April 30, 2008 Does music affect living beings? And more relevant to doctors and patients, does music help recover from an illness? A series of experiments on animals has shown that a stimulating and an enriching environment can significantly enhance...
Published: April 15, 2008 Each morning as I head for my morning rounds, I routinely hurry through the hallway alongside the cardiac catheterization lab not noticing what goes on inside. But, this morning it was different. On the table, under the x-ray beams, with a...
Published: April 06, 2008 Nearly every kid’s food is “decorated” or “tainted” with artificial food color and additives. While they make food look pretty, there may be a downside. Can our children’s daily consumption of juices, candy, and soft drinks with...
Published: March 16, 2008 Reaching the age of 90 and being in good health may be easier than we think, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It’s well known that our genetic makeup influences our life span, but until now it was unclear what...
Patient’s Routine Visit Becomes An Ethical Challenge for a DoctorPublished: March 04, 2008 My patient had come for a routine doctor visit. He was a well-built, soft-spoken middle-aged man who was always polite, respectful and adhered meticulously to his HIV...
Published: February 24, 2008 “If we reduce the number of oxygen radicals, we improve the antioxidant status in our body and live longer” Manoj Jain Ever wonder what causes us to age resulting in death of our body cells over the years, develop heart disease...
Published: January 27, 2008 Imagine a drug which can reduce pain and fever, spare the muscles of the oxygen-starved heart, prevent strokes, and save 110,000 lives per year. To add to its stellar performance, imagine if it can also reduce certain types of breast...
Published: September 04, 2007 Every quarter I get together with my partners to review the performance of our medical practice. Like a manager of a car dealership, I bring out the numbers. I show them how many patients we saw in the previous months, what we billed, how...
Published: April 15, 2007 At our hospital in Tennessee not long ago, I saw my picture on the hallway message board alongside those of other doctors in a display thanking us for our service. My Asian-Indian complexion set me apart — it’s something that I am...
Published: March, 2007 As Indians we swell with pride to see Sunita Pandya Williams, an Indian-American, walking in space. For me, the event has special significance, since I grew up with her in an upper-middle class suburb of Boston. She lived less than 100 meters...
Published: January 23, 2007 I carry the card in the glove compartment of my car. It is not a Valentine’s card from my wife, or a graduation card from my mother. It is a simple greeting card, with a cheerful watercolor of wildflowers, sent to me by a patient I cared...
Summer is fun, but it isn’t without hazards. In fact, a surprising number of people become ill or are injured during the summer months. The good news is – summer diseases and injuries are preventable. Take the case of skin cancer. Over one million new cases of skin...
October is national breast cancer awareness month and October 17 is mammography day. If you are confused about the screening recommendations for a mammogram, you are not the only one – so are many doctors. A few months ago, the American Cancer Society updated its...
It’s very likely that you have visited the new food pyramid website, www.mypyramid.gov. How do I know? Because, the site was clogged for several days after it’s unveiling, due to unprecedented network traffic. The old food pyramid, which was first introduced in 1992...
On Monday you have a hair salon appointment, on Wednesday it’s dinner at Martha’s place and Friday morning is your flu shot appointment at the pharmacy. If the last appointment is missing you better mark your calendar. Last year 2 of every 5 seniors in Tennessee...
The obesity pandemic – slowly and silently – is killing more people in the world than the bird flu may ever kill. In United States alone, an estimated 300,000 individuals die annually from obesity and its complications such as diabetes, heart disease and...
The Medicare legislation being voted on by Congress this week hopes to bring the greatest change to Medicare in its 40 year history. The plan is sure to effect our health, our pocket books, and the future of our health care industry in America. The bill is not just...
Last week I attended a talk by Dr. Herb Smith a former Rhodes College psychology professor. He was teaching meditation. I am often asked , “what is meditation?” As doctors we have a fairly sophisticated definition. Scientifically we define meditation “as stylized...
Last week, at a breakfast meeting Governor Mike Huckabee spoke about his personal battle and victory over diabetes. As the talk was interesting, one fact stuck to our minds – “every 21 seconds someone new is diagnosed with diabetes.” This threat of diabetes became...
When Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza, the newly crowned Miss. Universe, fainted on stage, she was likely squeezed by her tight dress and dehydrated from the bright lights. Dehydration is more common than we think. Thirst is a symptom of dehydration as is dry mouth, decrease...
A visit to the hospital can be traumatizing. Even more traumatizing can be when the team of doctors and nurses are not coordinated in the recognition, diagnosis and management of a critical illness such as sepsis. Sepsis is a life threatening response of the body to...
When Ms. Landers, a 30 year old HIV positive patient, comes to my office and is failing on her HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), I wonder why. Is it because the medicines are not working and resistance has developed? Is it because there is drug-drug...
The odometer on my Toyota Avalon just passed 100,000 and soon the “check engine” light went on. It was a reminder that I needed to take my car for routine servicing. Thought it is annoying the “check engine” light is an “in the face” reminder of needed preventive...
Last week while having dinner at a hospital board meeting at the Peabody, I wondered if I should eat the salad – especially the spinach. It is hard to imagine that spinach, the food of Popeye-the sailor, could be more harmful than healthy, yet such is the case in...
Our pediatrician poked a pen in my teenage daughter’s arm and said “That’s how much it will hurt, or I will give you ten dollars” He was talking about the meningitis vaccine. Meningitis is an infection of the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, and can be caused by...
Who would have imagined that the first interactive national conversation on childhood obesity would begin in Memphis? But that is what is happening on September 17, 2005 as 1,200 people – parents, youths, doctors, politicians, corporate executive, school teachers, and...
For several months I have been on the planning committee for the Norfleet Forum, which is an annual meeting in Memphis of health care providers, to be held on November 13-14. The Forum has taken on the challenge to reverse the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the...
Only in America do we order a big double cheese burger, large fries and a diet coke from the drive-through and the government tells us this is wrong. Early this month when the new dietary guidelines were unveiled by the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human...
Few weeks ago my wife, also a physician, and I attended a medical seminar on teamwork. A Navy pilot, Steve Harden, was teaching us teamwork skills from the aviation industry so that we could reduce medical errors in the healthcare setting. The hotel ballroom was...
Last month I spoke to students at Rhodes College on “Does Prayer Really Work?”. I am not a preacher or a pastor but a doctor. Why would a doctor be talking about prayer? A controversy has brewed in the field of medicine- whether doctors should pray with their patients...
