Dr Wendy Orr and the health of detainees in South Africa.

To the Editor.— The contribution by Nightingale and Stover in your May 23/30, 1986, issue entitled "A Question of Conscience," 1 dealing with Dr Wendy Orr, Steve Biko, and a report published by two researchers at the University of Cape Town's Institute of Criminology, demands my comment. The circumstances surrounding Dr Orr's successful application to the Eastern Cape Presiding Judge to restrain the Minister of Police and his officers from assaulting present and future detainees are as follows: Dr Orr was at the time working in the office of the Port Elizabeth District Surgeon examining detainees, among other duties. She concluded from evidence presented to her that detainees were being systematically assaulted. The police denied these allegations and a total of 164 replying affidavits were submitted to the Supreme Court. Before the case was heard, Dr Orr and her coapplicants withdrew their application on the grounds that it had become