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Human Rights and the Medical Profession
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
TO THE EDITOR:
The recent article on the prevention of international torture [1] is of extraordinary importance. To arouse public awareness, more needs to be published in the most widely circulated journals. Because most of these crimes occur in countries where most people lack access to the medical journals such as Annals, I suggest that alternative measures be adopted. These could include the creation of help lines, development of closer ties with the medical societies of such countries, publications in the local medical journals, and, perhaps more importantly, increased emphasis on the importance of medical ethics to undergraduate students. Medical students and residents should be encouraged to spend electives in organizations such as Physicians for Human Rights. Special measures must be devised to educate the members of the medical profession who work in the army and police hospitals about these ethical issues. The medical societies should strictly address the members of the medical profession who ignore the codes of medical ethics and who participate in torture. National medical societies should be monitored by an international body. I believe that without such monitoring, expecting real change would be naive.
Farooq A. Padder, MD
Nassau County Medical Center; East Meadow, NY 11554
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
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