Patient claims doctor used photo without permission

A former patient of Mohammed M. Ahmed, M.D. filed suit against him in Madison County Circuit Court Oct. 6, for the commercial use of her likeness, invasion of privacy and breach of contract.

Becky Davidson claims she was treated by Ahmed for severe facial lacerations in 1989.

According to Davidson, Ahmed's treatment was satisfactory and her suit is not for malpractice.

She claims after her treatment employees photographed her face and retained the photographs and without her knowledge displayed the photos in an advertising brochure distributed to the general public.

"Defendant, without the knowledge of the plaintiff, continued to display said photographs of the plaintiff's face and likeness for a number of years," the complaint reads.

Davidson claims she did not discover the brochure until October 2004, and it displayed her face and likeness plus a number of other photos which contained unidentified unclothed women, which are not her.

"The advertising brochure does not display the face of any person other than the plaintiff, making it likely that a reasonable person viewing the brochure could conclude that the photograph of the plaintiff's face is a photograph of one or more of the unclad women in the other photographs contained in the brochure, when in fact none of the photographs of unclad women are photographs of the plaintiff," the complaint states.

She claims the display of her likeness in the brochure constitutes the commercial use of her likeness giving rise to a quasi-contractual obligation on the part of Ahmed to compensate her for the use of her likeness.

"Defendant has failed and refused to compensate the plaintiff for the commercial use of her likeness," the complaint states.

Davidson also claims the public display of her likeness is an invasion of her privacy and a violation of her right to medical confidentiality.

Represented by G. Edward Moorman of Alton, Davidson is seeking damages in excess of $200,000, plus costs.

06 L 910