Under the banner "Your Good Health/Hartford HealthCare" in The Day (Aug. 23), is the headline "Understanding Lyme Disease," followed by an article written by an acupuncturist that gives the appearance of a scientific feature article. It concludes with bold details of her office address and telephone number for appointments. 

This "article" contains several scientifically unproven statements about Lyme disease that are controversial. 

I note that a tiny symbol with the letter "d" is inserted in the first paragraph within which is even smaller type size that reads "SPONSORED." Plain and simple, this is a euphemism for "ADVERTISEMENT." 

There is a legitimate need for advertising revenue for newspapers to survive in the digital age. However, misleading readers with paid advertisements disguised as news articles is poor journalism. 

Dr. Vijay K. Sikand

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine

Tufts University School of Medicine

East Lyme

Editor's note: Sponsored content, which is information created or commissioned by advertisers and The Day's Marketing Department, has been a regular feature in our newspapers, magazines and websites since 2013. Each sponsored content that appears has an icon attached to it indicating that the article is paid advertising. A policy statement regarding sponsored content is published daily on Page 2-A on The Day.