Flood water not likely to produce epidemics - Commercial Appeal

Published: May 16, 2011

Last 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, debris of bottles, boxes and tires rested at the water's edge, as if the local roads were a dumping ground. Read More

Obama talks about cheap healthcare in Mexico and India

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 insurance won't cover medical expenses incurred abroad.

So my question is this:  By the word "cheap" does he mean "low cost" or "low quality" or both. If he read my article -- it means "low cost" because lot of healthcare being offered in India and Mexico is "high quality".


Regardless, it is fun to speculate that President Obama is reading your articles in the Washington Post. Is he?

US healthcare: Obama talks to curb medical tourism to India - Hindustan Times

Collegians face obstacles to healthful lifestyles - Commercial Appeal

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, who were kids a few years earlier, have to make choices about the simple tasks of life -- like when to wake up, how to do the laundry and what to eat.

A few weeks ago, I took my oldest daughter out for lunch a day before she was heading back to college. She had spent a relaxing week at home during her spring break.

Over Chinese food, I asked her what three things she was doing well at college as a freshman. She thought for a few moments with her gaze diverting to other customers and the waiter.

I did not want it to be an inquisition, but I wanted her to make an effort to reflect on the past months. So out of politeness and respect, or the fact that I was paying for her lunch and her tuition, she replied.

Read more

Medical tourism can pose problems, but savings are welcome - Washington Post

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 and everthing is fine until they come back to the United States and start having complications? Will surgeons here want to pick up someone else’s problems when they were not involved at all in the original health care? It will be very difficult to find doctors who will be willing to put their reputation on the line and risk a huge lawsuit. Yes, many folks do just fine, but what about those who do not?

Someone, somewhere, somehow must fix our out-of-control system — not find others to do it for us and help destroy the best health care in the world. Read More

My homes - Memphis and Indore - quite similar

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.

I was vacationing with family, lecturing on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, convening meetings on tuberculosis, visiting shimmering private hospitals, talking with elementary school kids in villages and sharing precious moments with my 93-year-old grandfather.

During my travels, I often thought, "What lessons can I learn here, and how can I apply them back home, so we do things better in Memphis?"

Medical tourism draws growing numbers of Americans to seek health care abroad

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 the service and the price, my mother decided to have her two front teeth replaced, eliminating a wide gap that tarnished her smile, and estimated she had saved $3,000. Read More

Primary care doctors in short supply - Commercial Appeal

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 control diabetes and lack of health insurance. Read More