by Giacomo Puccini

chosen for an excitedly awaited experi-
mental trial actually saves his life; the new
drug rums out to be a dud, while the less
favored treatment causes his advanced
melanoma to go into remission.

October
14-22

at the Detroit Opera House

Role Model

Starring:
Francesco Grollo,
Francesca Pedaci,
Raul Melo, Inese Galante,
Mario Corradi - director,
Steven Mercurio - conductor

A Jewish doctor inspires
"Gideon's Crossing.

1,

• End of life choices are seldom clear-cut.
In a not uncommon case, for instance,
a patient's children and Groopman
had different takes on what their
dying father had actually meant by his
request to maintain his "quality of life"
without "heroic measures." Even after
his death, the interpretation remains
open to question.

• We have more medical knowledge than
ever — yet that knowledge remains limited.
Our expanding knowledge about the
genetic causes of some cancers, for
instance, currently "outstrips the physi-
cian's ability to stare a prognosis and offer
validated therapy," Groopman asserts.
With little data or consensus to guide us,
"patients, their families, and physicians
should be particularly open ... to diverse
opinions and debate, and seek the input
of all credible sources in formulating
choices that have no precedents."

• Physicians are fallible. Lack of rime,
lack of humility and lack of knowl-
edge can lead physicians to rely too
heavily on assumptions that turn out
to be wrong. But "there should be no
ego involved in getting the best care,"
Groopman writes. When in doubt, ask
questions — and keep on asking. In
the most difficult cases, three opinions
may be needed to achieve consensus.

• Patients need to trust their instincts. If
your doctor appears too rushed, too arro-
gant or too inexperienced to focus on
you as an individual, find someone else.
Never be afraid to speak up and assert
your right for proper attention and care.

• Second opinions should build trust, not
destroy it. Although most medical
decisions don't call for a second opin-
ion, "even when dealing with the rou-
tine, both doctor and patient must be
vigilant," Groopman declares. "There
is some degree of uncertainty, and thus
some degree of risk, inherent in every
clinical intervention. This bond of
mutual vigilance between doctor and
patient is forged through the melding
of knowledge and intuition."

In the end, Groopman's bottom line
may sound deceptively simple: When

Diane Cole is the author of the memoir
After Great Pain.. A New Life Emerges,
and the book editor of the health maga-
zine In Touch.

FREE "Inside Opera" Lecture
One Hour Prior to Performance

MICHAEL ELTON

Order today!
Tickets as low as $18.

The Jewish Exponent

313/237-SING

M

aybe Dr. Jerome Groopman is
more magic man than
medicine man. After all, how else to
explain how a 6-foot-plus white Jew
can turn into a shorter black gentile
without benefit of some mind-blow-
ing abracadabra?
Ala, but magic is the
TV medium's middle
name, and now, pulling a
series out of its hat is
ABC, which has Gideon's
Crossing crossing race and
ethnicity in a new series
Andre
many are calling the best
Braugher
drama of the fall season.
With Andre Braugher,
formerly of Homicide, making a
killing in casting as the crusading
doctor based on Groopman, the
real doctor finds himself being
measured for a suit of TV success.
Not that he's traded in the OR
lights for the TV spotlight.
Groopman maintains his group of
incredible credits away from the TV
screen at the Harvard Medical
School, where he is Recanati
Professor of Medicine. He also
serves as chief of experimental medi-
cine at the Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center and is a prominent
AIDS/cancer researcher.
So how does the Brookline,
Mass., Jewish doctor feel about the
casting of Braugher as a Jewish bea-
con of bedside manner?
Groopman lets out a loud laugh.
"You mean, how does a nice Jewish
boy [originally] from New York
come to be played by an African-
American actor? Well, Andre tran-
scends the [physical] image," he says.
Concentrate on the character's
crusade for better medicine, says
Groopman. "Andre has captured
who I hoped he would be."
And that is a TV version of the
good doctor himself
Gideon's Crossing deals with the
post-traumatic syndrome of
what happens during the period
after birth and before death and
all the illnesses that afflict and

ROLE MODEL on page 85

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