TO THE EDITOR: I was taken aback wh...

TO THE EDITOR: I was taken aback when reading the Photo Quiz in the July 1 2003 issue of American Family Physician, (1) which featured a full-frontal exposed picture of a 17-year-old woman with Prader-Willi syndrome Several things about this bothered me including referring to her as a "girl" (had she been male, would the hint have been to a 17-year-old boy?) describing her as "mentally retarded," and picturing her entirely naked. Certainly, there is a place for photography of the like kind as this in the medical literature. However, in this instance, I was mattered about how a young woman with significant disabilities could have reasonably given agreement for such a photograph.

JIM ANDERSON, PA-C

Harborview Medical Center

325 9th Ave.

Seattle, WA 98101

REFERENCE

(1) Baumgart DC Gerl H Obesity and daytime sleepiness. [Photo Quiz] Am Fam Physician 2003;68: 151-2

EDITOR'S NOTE: For questions of terminology, American Family Physician policy is to go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of the standards of the American Medical Association Manual of Style: a Guide for Authors and Editors. According to the AMA Manual of designation this person should have been described as a "teenager" or an "adolescent girl."

Written assent was obtained from the patient's guardian for use of the photograph.

REBECCA POAGE, MD Medical Editing counterpart American Family Physician

COPYRIGHT 2004 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group