When a "great country" denied a visa to my brother, even though he was a senior government official and had a wife and four children in Nepal, we decided to go to Thailand's Bumrungrad. Our decision was greatly influenced by your interview with Ruben Toral ("What people recognise is good value for health care," #87). The doctors there said my brother\'s chance of recovery was good. A day before the operation, however, a surgeon came in, said he was doing the operation and told my brother point blank: "You may survive, or you may die." Never have I heard a doctor say such an outrageous thing to a patient, and my brother lost all the confidence he had mustered. I very well understand that my brother's was a major operation, and the success rate is only around 90 percent even in the US. I cannot bring my brother back. But I want to warn other Nepalis not to be misled by the five-star luxury and paraphernalia in Bumrungrad. Good hospitals are known for their care and doctors with a soothing touch, healing and not money is important there.

Jyoti P Lohani
Kathmandu