I have been following the marketing bag (is it really a gift?) topic with
much interest.  

There are 2 very well written responses to the "Daily Free Press" editorial
that was titled "Breastfeeding by Coercion" that had comments such as
"Hard-line breast-feeders would prefer that all women do it their way." 
As well as: "However much we value the opinions of the medical community,
the evidence in favor of breastfeeding over formula is not so overwhelming
that government has the right to coerce women into choosing one over the
other"

One letter written in response to this is titled "Corporations are the issue
in breastfeeding debate" by Alison Stuebe, MD and the other is titled
"Formula marketing is effective, and needs to stop" by Melissa Bartick, MD,
MS.  

They are both very well written and address the original editorial in a very
professional manner. You can read them on the "Opinion page"
http://www.dailyfreepress.com/media/paper87/sections/430392.html


Understanding the marketing "gift bags" for what they are should be enough
for most reasonable people to agree that they don't belong in hospitals.
But, as we see from editorials and the comments of the Governor of
Massachusetts, it seems that many people still don't "get it".

One strategy that one military hospital has taken to remove the bags is the
"risk management" route.

Formula can be recalled (as 41,000 cans of Mead Johnson Gentlease has been
recently: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01323.html) and
powdered formula is not sterile and has occasionally been contaminated with
Enterobacter sakazakii, which can be life threatening if fed to high risk
infants.  

When presented this way to the risk management team, it is easy to "just say
no".  (Who is going to write down the lot numbers and follow any potential
recalls?  Will the lot numbers in reference with patient names be
documented?  Will patients be called if there is a recall? If so, who will
call them?)

I am very proud of all the work that so many wonderful people have done in
Massachusetts in regards to the marketing "gift bag" issue, and I hope that
your governor will see that, too.  If you succeed, you will open the door
for the rest of us to follow in your footsteps.

Sincerely,
Renee Mercier RN IBCLC (former resident of Massachusetts)
Washington State

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html