Obituary for Bimal Ghosh

Dr. Bimal Ghosh, a 32-year member of the National Press Club, who in 1985 was part of the team of doctors that operated on President Ronald Reagan for colon cancer, died Jan. 9. He was 79 and lived in River Forest, Ill.

Dr. Ghosh received his medical degree from Calcutta National Medical College in 1977 and did surgical residencies at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He retired as professor of surgery at the Veterans Administration medical center in New York City.

He held the rank of commander and was head of surgical oncology at Bethesda Naval Medical Center when on July 13, 1985, he was part of a team of doctors who successfully operated on President Reagan to remove a cancerous polyp in his large intestine. The polyp was discovered during a routine colonoscopy. Reagan, who was 74 at the time, spent a week at Bethesda Naval before returning to the White House.