Another reason to quit smoking

The Associate Press reported on a new anti-soking campaign by the CDC -- but there was an unfortunate medical error. Please see below:


Dear Mr. Stobbe and Mr. Felberbaum,

I read with great interest your story: CDC launching graphic anti-smoking ad campaign and I thankyou for covering this important issue, however in the caption to the image, it incorrectly states that: "This image provided on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 by the Centers for Disease Control shows Shawn Wright who had a tracheotomy ...." The image is of a man with a stoma after a laryngectomy and NOT a tracheostomy. While this may not sound like a significant difference to you, it is crucial to the goal of the CDC campaign, which is to be shocking and to educate the Public. A better description would be that this man had a total laryngectomy which is not only something shocking to look at, but also a major complication of chronic tobacco use. A one sentence description that said the man's voice box had been removed would have been sufficient in combination w the sentence at the end that said he speaks and breathes through his neck. [A tracheostomy is simply a tube that allows a direct airway through the neck/trachea as opposed to breathing through the mouth. It is also known a laryngotomy -- while a stoma involves a laryngectomy, which is removal of the larynx and not simply an opening].

I believe that it behooves you to make a clarification/correction to this issue and a follow-up story would be very useful to increase awareness and it would allow you to educate the Public and serve a greater good. I would be happy to work with you on this.


Thank you,

Daniel Kantor, MD
Medical Director
Neurologique

President
Florida Society of Neurology


The AP was very responsible and issued this statement:

ATLANTA (AP) _ In a story March 16 about an anti-smoking advertising campaign, The Associated Press, relying on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, erroneously reported what kind of medical procedure Washington state resident Shawn Wright underwent. The CDC said Monday that the hole in Wright's throat resulted from a laryngectomy _ the removal of his voice box _ not a tracheotomy.