In your Feb. 8 article regarding the lawsuit between the Vashon Island School District and Dr. Kelly Wright — in which you identified Bergman as an attorney but neglected to identify Wright as a physician — your subhead stated VISD was allegedly questioning her drug prescription practices (“High school principal’s lawyer claims Wright suit is retaliation,” Feb. 8). Further, you report that the father of Casey Doe was shocked, appalled and very angry that the child had been prescribed medication without parental consent. I think it would be timely to remind your readership that there is a Washington State Minor Consent Law, which includes the following:

Mental Health: A minor who is 13 years or older can consent for inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment without a parent or guardian.

Substance Use: Anyone age 13 or older can consent for inpatient or outpatient substance use treatment.

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV screening and treatment: Minors age 14 and older can be treated for STIs without parent consent. This diagnosis and treatment remains confidential.

Reproductive Health (contraception, pregnancy termination): There is no legal age limit to consent for reproductive health services.

You report that school administrators called Dr. Wright “medically reckless” in prescribing highly addictive and hazardous drugs. In reality, she was following Washington State Law. While your reporting did not include a comparison of the number of anti-anxiety drugs being prescribed by Vashon Natural Medicine to prescriptions by Neighborcare Health, maybe this information would be of interest to readers and deserve an article of its own.

Our children are our most precious gifts, and teen years require unlimited love and support. Rather than the parent being shocked and appalled, perhaps he should have felt some pride in his child for having the maturity to seek help on their own for something he was not aware of.

— Margaret Heffelfinger