The BMJ's obit for my father uses the "q" word

Sidebar readers may recall the one-of-a-kind 2010 obituary by Jeanne Lenzer in the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) about the unusual career of my father's 30-year colleague, Edward A. Patrick MD PhD, who "claimed that he was the co-developer of the Heimlich manoeuvre, which he referred to as the 'Patrick-Heimlich manoeuvre.'"

More recently, Dr. Patrick turned in many of the mainstream media obituaries of my father, including the New York Times, Reuters, WCPO (Cincinnati's ABC-TV affiliate), and USA Today.

A couple days ago the BMJ published a two-page obituary of my father by Bob Roehr, "an independent biomedical journalist who writes for a variety of trade and consumer publications," according to his online bio.

I had some reportorial questions that I e-mailed yesterday to Mr. Roehr. For example, I was curious why his article (which is behind a subscription paywall) failed to mention Dr. Patrick. I'll blog about that after I receive his answers.

For now, here's a snip that puts into the record a word which publications may have been reluctant to use while my father was alive.