Infant formula manufacturers are not going to stop using the marketing tactic of co-opting health care providers into doing their sales work for them. Letters to the companies regarding this practice will fall on deaf ears. One way Ban the Bags has helped eliminate these bags both in hospitals and pediatric practices is to contact the Risk Management Department in the hospital (or the physicians in the practice) and inform them that if they intend to distribute these bags they should be engaging in some form of stock or inventory control. They should be recording the lot number of every bag and the contact information of the mother it was given to in order to contact her if there is a recall. There was a recall on the bags from Abbott a few years ago because of faulty packaging that affected levels of vitamin C. The potential for harm is quite high and liability for giving out potentially contaminated products to families exists. Powdered infant formula is not sterile and would need an explanation of how to properly prepare it to kill any potential pathogens in the sample formula. We have seen the bags move from the hospitals who eliminate them to the surrounding pediatric practices. Nothing like the endorsement of the trusted physician or nurse to assure mothers that formula is a "good" thing.




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An old Ross (Abbott) employee manual states,… “Never underestimate the role of nurses. If they are sold and serviced properly, they can be strong allies. A nurse who supports Ross is like another salesman.” I show this quote when I lecture on infant formula, ethics, and eliminating discharge bags. It helps health providers understand that they are being used by the formula industry to do their marketing for them. Mothers do not need the free samples which last less than a week. The sabotage to their milk production lasts a lifetime for the infant who is deprived of human milk in order to satisfy corporate greed. There is no reason to give out formula samples unless there is a life threatening situation. Mothers can purchase formula or if they qualify, WIC will give them vouchers for most of what they need.


Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA







 

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