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Challenges for Sebelius and Obamacare – Huffington Post
Last Friday, I was among a dozen people who sat privately to talk about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, with the embattled Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. Dressed in a light green blazer, sitting alongside Memphis Mayor AC Wharton…
Closing the Medicaid doughnut hole – Commercial Appeal
A patient, a burly black man in his 40s who works as a cook, is in the hospital wincing in pain from a staph infection on his leg. He has no health insurance and earns about $15,000 a year. You would think that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, would help…
Doctor’s Advice: Get Health Insurance – Huffington Post
Standing in the dimly-lit cave-like radiology reading room, I was looking at a CT scan which was done in the emergency room on a man in his 40s who had a testicular mass — likely a cancer — which had spread through out his body. It wasn’t that the…
What should doctors do to combat childhood obesity? – Washington Post
Lying in a hospital bed, my seriously obese patient could barely see her swollen and odorous right foot over her abdominal fat. The foot was soon to be amputated, the result of an untreatable infection exacerbated by diabetes and kidney failure, which developed in…
Complications after surgery are urgent challenges – Commercial Appeal
My uncle, Vinay Mehta, who had his second bypass surgery four days earlier, is rushed back to the ICU hooked up to monitors and multiple IV lines. A critical care doctor who wears cowboy boots and uses words sparingly is at the foot of the bed, and three nurses adjust…
My uncle’s medical journey – Commercial Appeal
My uncle, Vinay Mehta, lies quietly on a gurney in the hospital’s pre-post catherization room. His wife of 40 years is by his side. The TV across the room is flickering, and the EKG monitor behind him beats a regular rhythm. His cardiologist, who just performed the…
Healthy Memphis: Tick-borne illness may be cause of summer fever – Commercial Appeal
Karen Young, a woman whose short reddish-brown hair reminded me of Julie Andrews from the movie “Sound of Music,” tells me her fever and body aches started a few days before the 4th of July weekend. “I was hurting all over, like arthritis bothering me on a rainy day.”…
Interfaith about community, not conversion – Commercial Appeal
For a number of years in the holy month of Ramadan, I have joined my Muslim friends in the “breaking of the fast” dinner. I am not Muslim, and neither were half of the 500 Memphians gathered last month at the Esplanade Banquet Hall for the seventh annual Memphis…
Overcoming our biases requires understanding how we think – Commercial Appeal
The Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman case has once again opened the racial wounds of our nation, and it reminded me of the first piece I wrote for The Washington Post six years ago. I wrote about racial disparity in the health care system, titled “How I Learned to…
Decline in Cost of Health Care in America – Huffington Post
We have done it. We have decreased the increase in the cost of health care. Let us explain. For three decades (1980-2009), the cost of health care has been increasing each year at an average rate of 7.4 percent — double the rate of inflation. [1] However, over…
Guest column: Bend in health cost curve can be sustained – Commercial Appeal
We have done it. We have decreased the increase in the cost of healthcare. Let us explain. For three decades (1980–2009), the cost of healthcare has been increasing each year at an average rate of 7.4%—double the rate of inflation. However, over the past three years, …
Germ-free pacifiers may mean sicker kids – Tennessean
Years ago, when my children (now teenagers) were babies and they dropped a pacifier on the floor, we rinsed it with tap water before putting it back in their mouth. As a parent and as an infectious disease doctor, sterility is of utmost importance to me. While this…
Tact, Tone And Timing: The Power Of Apology – Talk of the Nation : NPR
An effective apology involves a delicate balance between tact, tone and timing. In high-stakes settings, when jobs and reputations are on the line, it can be even harder. The significance of an apology can vary in different settings and professions. Listen to the…
Medical errors are hard for doctors to admit, but it’s wise to apologize to patients – Washington Post
In 2007, I published a story in my local paper in which I confessed to having made a medical error years earlier. I’d mistakenly prescribed an antibiotic for a patient whose chart indicated an allergy to the drug. Thankfully, the story had a happy ending. My patient…
Cleanliness may not be best when it comes to pacifiers – Commercial Appeal
Years ago, when my children, who are now teenagers, were babies and they dropped a pacifier onto the floor, we rinsed it with tap water before putting it in their mouth. As a parent and as an infectious disease doctor, sterility is of utmost importance to me. While…
Healthy Memphis: Besides pleasure, biking and walking trails lead to significant health benefits – Commercial Appeal
Two weekends ago, when the temperature hit the low 70s and the afternoon sun was warm, but not Memphis hot, my 13-year-old son and I put on our helmets and hopped onto our freshly serviced bikes for a ride. I had not seriously ridden a bike for a generation, and my…
Memories of Boston Marathon – Huffington Post
I know Boston and the Boston Marathon well. I lived for 20 years in Needham and Wellesley, the western suburbs of Boston, the halfway mark of the 26-mile race, from where I have watched the marathon in route. Many times I picnicked at Hopkinton State Park near where…
Denying employment could be powerful disincentive for smokers – Commercial Appeal
As I walk into the hospital each day, I notice patients and families sitting outside on benches that are surrounded by large signs prohibiting smoking on hospital grounds. For over five years, a collaborative and concerted effort by Memphis hospitals has successfully…
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Detachment Similar To That Of Eastern Sages – Huffington Post
A few weeks ago, as I watched the white helicopter rise above St. Peter’s Basilica and carry the pontiff emeritus to a life of seclusion, I was reminded of Hindu and Jain saints who withdraw from the world and live a renounced life. With his last words on March…
Letters – Menstrual Shame and Superstitions in India – The New York Times
“The Taboo of Menstruation,” by Rose George (Op-Ed, Dec. 29), sheds a welcome light on the unfortunate effects of menstrual superstitions and ignorance in parts of India. Unfortunately, similar taboos with similar debilitating outcomes exist in other regions saddled…
‘Lincoln’ rekindles equality – Washington Post
On Thanksgiving weekend, with family and friends, I watched Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece “Lincoln.” It was a history lesson on racial inequality. Abraham Lincoln championed the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, paving the way for the 15th Amendment in 1869, giving…
When Hospitals Buy Doctor Practices – The New York Times
To the Editor:Your article reflects the changes occurring in the medical landscape in Memphis and Nashville. We believe that hospital-doctor consolidation is appropriate and inevitable, and can provide more seamless care, yet it must be done with caution. We need to…
Video : Pregnancy Flu and Autism – WREG
In Health News, a new study suggests moms who get sick with the flu, or fever, while pregnant may increase their risk of having a child with autism. But some caution not to read too much into the results. Infectious disease expert Dr. Manoj Jain explains.
Doctors need to eliminate waste from healthcare – Commercial Appeal
Thirty percent of health care spending — amounting to $750 billion a year — is wasted, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine. I know. As a doctor, I am party to this waste, and I think doctors can play a major role in recovering it. In a private…
LETTERS : In Search of Political Champions for the Poor – The New York Times
To the Editor: Re “Cutting the Deficit, With Compassion” (Economic View, Sept. 9), in which Christina R. Romer suggested reducing the federal budgetdeficit “in a way that does as little harm as possible to people, jobs and economic opportunity.” Sadly in this election…
Data, coaching important in changing behavior in health care and life – Commercial Appeal
A few months ago, as I drove my daughter to the airport on Interstate 240 for her summer internship in Boston, I read the overhead message sign: “TN ROADWAY FATALITIES 371 — PLEASE DON’T BE NEXT” The same day, walking into my hospital’s ICU, I…
We all need ‘skin’ in Medicare debate – Commercial Appeal
As I approach my 50th birthday, I worry about Medicare not being there for me when I become eligible. I have some inside knowledge about Medicare. My parents and in-laws are patients on Medicare. As a doctor, I am a provider for Medicare, and as a public health…
Medicare Control of Cost – Huffington Post
As I approach my 50th birthday, I worry about Medicare not being there for me when I become eligible. I have some inside knowledge about Medicare. My parents and in-laws are patients on Medicare. As a doctor, I am a provider for Medicare, and as a public health…
Sikh Temple massacre shows violent thoughts, words lead to actions – Commercial Appeal
On Tuesday night, I sat with my children at the Sikh temple in Cordova and wondered what triggered Wade Michael Page to massacre six people at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc. Though no one will know for sure, this much seems certain: Page had the seeds of white…
Data show football may not be safe for kids – Commercial Appeal
Last fall, I went with my 12-year-old son to his middle school’s opening home football game. The bleachers were lined with parents, the smell of hot dogs and nachos wafted over the field, the announcer’s voice blared, and the cheerleaders jumped out of…
Quality Improvement Projects in India
Books
Mindfulness
The Mindfulness Model
Management of Infectious Diseases
Roadmap for Quality Improvement
Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle Rejuvenates a Marriage
MAHAVIRA – The Hero of Nonviolence
Cook Books