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EDITORIALS: Philip Hazell Depression in adolescents BMJ 2007; 335: 106-107 [Full text]

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Is nudity essential in medicine?

Mohammad Siddiq   (5 August 2007)

Invega advertising

Selwyn Learner   (1 October 2007)

Is nudity essential in medicine? 5 August 2007
Mohammad Siddiq, Associate specialist anaesthetist Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, LS1 3EX Send response to journal: Re: Is nudity essential in medicine?	Dear editor I would like to bring to your attention an unhealthy trend that I sometimes find very sickening. I am increasingly witnessing that sometimes some presenters/speakers use full or half naked images to create some humour in their presentations at medical meetings/conferences.I have lived in Britain and Ireland for the last 20 years but unfortunately this phenomenon seems to be on the increase in recent times. For example, recently I attended an anaesthetic meeting where one speaker showed a picture of many people in their birthday suits. And another speaker showed a naked lady in chest-knee position on a beach in order to get his message across in a funny and dramatic way. one of the recent issues of the BMJ has pictured a young lady with no trousers alongside an editorial" Depression in adolescents"(1). Interestingly the back cover of the same issue also shows a picture of a young, almost naked lady in an advertisement of an antidepressant drug,Invega, by a pharmaceutical company JANSENN-CILAG Ltd. As Britain is a multi-cultural, multi- religious society some people might find these pictures quite offensive. Sometimes I wonder whether this increasing nakedness all around us has anything to do with mental illnesses in our modern times? I have read through the guidance booklet "Good Medical Practice" by the General Medical Council that advises doctors to conduct themselves and communicate in a decent, professional way(2). The GMC also emphasises the significance of high standards of medical ethics in its "Vision Statement"(3). Undoubtedly, there are many ways to create humour in our presentations without using any indecent images. I would like to request all healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies to present or advertise, whatever you wish, but please in a dignified, civilised way. Moreover being honourable medical professionals we should leave good traditions for our future generations. Yours faithfully, Dr M. Siddiq associate specialist anaesthetist Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds LS1 3EX msiddiq1@hotmail.com 1.BMJ 2007;335:106-107.(21 July.) 2.Good Medical Practice: November, 2006 by the General Medical Council 3.The GMCtoday: May,2007 Competing interests: None declared
Invega advertising 1 October 2007
Selwyn Learner, Creative Director Ogilvy Healthworld Advertising, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace london W2 6JR Send response to journal: Re: Invega advertising	I would like to respond to Dr M Siddiq's concerns about Invega advertising. Firstly I agree that gratuitous use of imagery liable to offend is unnecessary. But Invega is an antipsychotic licensed to treat schizophrenia, a condition which in many ways, both clinical and metaphorical, traps people within their former selves. The imagery is associated with wording and the whole communicates that within the person you see with schizophrenia is the normal human being aspiring to be free of this terrible disease. So at the very least I can say that clinical relevance was the intention - though it was also the intention to be elegant, beautiful, visually arresting and intellectually innovative. Research with Drs of all races and creeds did not provoke a negative response, and this form was preferred to a male one. Dr Siddiq's reference to humour in the advertisement suggests perhaps he has not read it or viewed it properly. Perhaps that is understandable if it offends. I wish to acknowledge that Dr M Siddiq has the right to dislike and complain. But that with the same right comes mine and my client's right to use this sort of imagery. For we have contravened no moral code, nor ethical code, nor boundary of good taste as currently in vogue in this country. Indeed in reference to Dr Siddiq's comment that "pharmaceutical companies present or advertise...in a dignified, civilised way" I would suggest that this advertisement is probably one of the most dignified and civilised he or his colleagues will have ever seen. I share Dr Siddiq's concerns over the moral decline, but I refute that this advertisement is in any way part of that. And I refute that Dr Siddiq's view is one held by anything other than a miniscule portion of Britain's multicultural (perhaps we should say 'monoculture of diverse influences'?) and multi- religious society. In our present society the decline of tolerance seems more rapid than the decline of morality or the Judeo-Christian ethic that is the backbone of our British society. Competing interests: I created the Invega ad