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Employers have clout to reduce health costs – Commercial Appeal
I once thought that only the federal government in Washington could effect changes that would impact the cost of health care in the United States, especially with so much attention on the recent Supreme Court decision on the 2010 health care reform law. But now I…
Judging ‘Obamacare’ depends on your situation Put politics aside and just focus on facts – Commercial Appeal
On the day the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its historic decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, I was rounding on my hospital patients: a man on the ventilator with pneumonia who had private insurance, one elderly woman with abdominal pain going for…
Family support makes transplants easier to take – Commercial Appeal
SUBMITTED PHOTO Juana Boyland won medals in several events in the 2002 Transplant Olympics. She underwent a lung transplant. I had not recognized the deep bonds between sisters until I saw my two daughters holding each other in a long embrace after the older one…
Dr. Manoj Jain: Alert wife assists on doctors’ diagnosis – Commercial Appeal
Often patients and families think their doctor is all-knowing when it comes to the causes of their illness and the plan for treatment. Yet, uncertainty underlies each diagnosis and treatment plan. This could not have been more true in Jay Killen’s case. I know…
Meningitis – WREG
Texas just became the 4th state to pass a law requiring the meningitis vaccine for college students who plan to live in dorms. While it’s not a law here, we wondered if it really is important enough. That it should be. Infectious disease expert, Dr. Manoj Jain, is…
Culture change on obesity will take time – Commercial Appeal Article
“Ouch,” that hurt, I said last Sunday. It was not a reaction to the Grizzlies’ Game 7 loss to the Clippers, but Chris Peck’s scathing must-read commentary on Memphis being the national hub for obesity and our lack of concern about it. I will…
Cautionary tales make anti-smoking ads effective – Commercial Appeal
As I was scrolling through the newspaper online recently, an ad kept blinking on the side of my computer screen. It read: “A Tip from a Former Smoker. After a stroke from smoking, get used to losing your independence.” In the background was a middle-age…
How much does it cost? Even doctor is stumped – Commercial Appeal
Rarely do people think about medical costs when there is a medical emergency or an urgent need for a test. Recently, I was in such a situation. A few days after a 22-hour international flight, the calf muscle in my right leg began to ache. If it were not for the…
Doctors in private practices are now joining hospital staffs – Washington Post
Fifteen years ago, I proudly hung a sign outside my office with my name followed by “MD.” I had started my own business. A small private medical practice is much like a mom-and-pop store, where the doctor has the autonomy to decide the hours, which insurance to…
Pioneering physicians’ life stories are treasures – Commerical Appeal
Last week, I hurried through the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library to attend a forum on Asian-Americans. Afterward, Wang-Ying Glasgow, the coordinator for library services, urged me not to miss the new gallery exhibit on the history of African-American doctors in…
Author Rushdie and Indian Ambassador Rao to headline India Summit | Emory University | Atlanta, GA
Acclaimed author Salman Rushdie and Indian Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao are among the speakers at the third annualIndia Summit on March 2-3 at Emory University. Grounded in the cross-cutting theme of innovation, the summit features panels on medical…
White House advisors meet with Mid-South Asian American community -WMCTV
February 17, 2012 White House officials made a trip to Memphis Thursday to talk with the Asian American and Pacific islander community, one of the fastest growing communities in the Mid-South. view video
Hospitals feeling way toward greater transparency – Commercial Appeal
A few years ago at a conference, I learned about a hospital initiative that allowed family members to be present 24/7 with their loved ones, often in the most challenging of environments, such as the intensive care unit. I was hesitant to accept this practice. An ICU…
What kind of sick? Symptoms, treatment differ among cold, flu, bacterial infection – Commercial Appeal
On a Friday afternoon last month, Niti Mehta, a second-grade teacher at Shady Grove Elementary, began to “shake like a leaf.” A week earlier, she had the sniffles and nasal congestion, but no fever or shivering. RICHARD ROBBINS/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL…
Test pattern: Doctors rethink paradigm for cancer screening – Commercial Appeal Article
Some years before his retirement, when my father-in-law went in for his routine physical, his doctor ordered a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, along with a cholesterol test and blood count. My father-in-law was not having any symptoms, and no one in his family…
Depression common following an operation – Commercial Appeal Articles
My patient, who was built like a linebacker, was a week out from major heart surgery. He sat in a chair in his ICU room with his head drooped down. The surgery had gone well, and his heart rate, blood pressure and respirations were all normal. When I asked him how he…
When terminally ill patients ask how long they have, doctors find it hard to say – Washington Post
In January, when my close friend’s lymph node biopsy came back as a rare form of T-cell lymphoma, I scoured the scientific literature. What was his prognosis? He was 56, a little overweight but otherwise healthy. He had helped us move into our home more than a decade…
U.S. doctors can take cue from medical tourism – Commercial Appeal
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…
Diwali at the White House – Washington Post
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…
False positives show need to adjust expectations for cancer screening tests – Washington Post
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…
Accepting death is difficult for patients and doctors, but it needs to be done – Washington Post
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…
No easy cure for hospital errors / Significant gains seen in specific areas – Commercial Appeal
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…
Waging Peace – Commericial Appeal
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 —…
LETTERS TO THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE Following the Jain Tradition – The New York Times
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…
Knowledge is weapon in fight against silent killers – Commercial Appeal
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…
Intensive care units grow more friendly to patients’ families at some hospitals – Washington Post
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…
Video: Brain Infection – WREG
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
Knowledge is weapon in fight against silent killers – Commercial Appeal
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…
Big pharma and patient care – Commercial Appeal
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…
Video: Scarlet Fever | WREG
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..
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