Like a growing numer of Americans, Jude Jarvis was attracted by promises of expert care and costs much lower than in the United States.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, May 19, 2006

BY TOM MOONEY
Journal Staff Writer

Before she flew off to India 13 days ago for cosmetic surgery, Jude Jarvis had consulted a local doctor who explained the realities she faced if she was to have the procedure done here.

Jarvis, 35, and a single mother of three, would have to get her weight below 140 pounds before the doctor would perform the breast reduction and tummy tuck. And there was the matter of cost: $20,000.

"She knew she would never get to 140 pounds and she didn't have much money," her sister, Elizabeth Wright, said yesterday. "That's when I told her about the 60 Minutes show I had seen." The TV segment highlighted the growing trend of Americans traveling to countries such as India and Thailand for good medical care at a fraction of the cost.

Jarvis, of Scituate, went online and within a few weeks' time, Wright said, Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbia, as Bombay is now called, had arranged for her visa, to pick her up at the airport, perform the procedures and dote on her for 2 1/2 weeks of recovery -- all for $4,000 (not including the $1,000 airfare).

Jarvis flew alone on May 6, her first overseas trip. She had the procedure on May 9. She died Saturday, four days later. Her memorial service is scheduled for today in Narragansett.

Doctors in Mumbai have told Wright in phone conversations that her sister died of a blood clot that traveled to her lungs.

It was unclear when the clot formed, Wright said, or whether it was related to her surgery. Jarvis told her family she had received excellent care before and after her operation, Wright said.

Still, said her sister, "I wish now I never told her about that 60 Minutes show."

The medical tourism trend has received growing attention.

A Dallas Morning News story in November said the Confederation of Indian Industries estimates that 150,000 foreign patients traveled to India for treatment in 2004. According to one consulting firm, the outsourced medical care could bring India $2.2 billion by 2012.

Indian hospitals advertise for foreign patients on Web sites that champion the skills of their Western-educated doctors and publish testimonials from happy patients who saved thousands of dollars on their hip replacements and face-lifts. The Web sites direct viewers to links for five-star hotels and translator services.

Dr. Patrick Sullivan, a local plastic surgeon and Brown University professor, warns, however, that traveling medical consumers get what they pay for.

"They seem to think they can shop around for things like this like they are buying a car -- go to whoever you get the best price from," he said.

"We're seeing the complications of people who go outside the country to places where the whole level of care is different -- the Caribbean, Mexico, South America. They are having procedures done that have the same words," said Sullivan, "but the technique used in the operating room might be very different, and the standard of care is very different."

Once Jarvis contacted doctors in Mumbai, "there was no stopping her," said her sister. And the hospital seemed to have everything covered.

Jarvis' only worry, said her sister, was being able to communicate with the Indian driver who would pick her up at the airport. But the hospital eased her concern by giving her his cell phone number so she could contact him ahead of time.

Once at the hospital, Jarvis received a telephone and a computer so she could stay in touch with her family back in Rhode Island.

Wright, of South Kingstown, said her sister was "thrilled" with her Indian doctor and her care after surgery.

The day after the surgery, Jarvis wrote to her sister that nurses were getting her up to walk but the pain, which was expected, was horrible.

"They walked her around for two days and she e-mailed me all the time. Then Friday I was looking for the e-mail and it was not there."

The hospital, 11 1/2 hours ahead, called Wright Friday night. "They said, 'Your sister is in critical condition. You need to get the next of kin over here.' I said, 'It takes 20 hours to get there, I can't come right now.' They called back two hours later and said she didn't make it."

"It was a freak accident. I truly believe that," said Wright. "They did not do a bad operation."

Wright said her sister's legacy "is that she was an awesome mother. If you ever met her kids, you would see it."

The children, Kayla, 15, Nicole, 14, and Paul, 12, attended Scituate schools but are moving to Connecticut to live with their father, Wright said.

Jarvis, who had a previous back operation and was receiving Social Security disability and Medicare assistance, had no life insurance. The family has started a fund to help the children. Donations can be made to the Jude Jarvis Benefit Fund, c/o Webster Bank, 150 Main St., Bristol, CT 06010.

tmooney@projo.com / (401) 277-7359