When terminally ill patients ask how long they have, doctors find it hard to say
Published: December 20, 2011
by Dr. Manoj Jain

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 ago, and I was like an uncle to his son and daughter.Read More 

False positives show need to adjust expectations for cancer screening tests
Published: November 01, 2011
by Dr. Manoj Jain

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. Read More 

Diwali at the White House
Published: November 01, 2011
by Dr. Manoj Jain

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 from our home in Memphis, Tennessee, to Washington to celebrate the festival of Diwali at the White House with the president of the United States. Read More

Depression common following an operation
Published: December 26, 2011
by Dr. Manoj Jain

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. Read More

U.S. doctors can take cue from medical tourism
Published: November 14, 2011 
by Dr. Manoj Jain

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. Read More