Those of you who have not read the full article may be interested in this
bit of it (I am having a hard time reading the whole thing.).

"discussions may reveal that the parent is incapable of making an informed
decision because of incapacitating psychiatric illness, on-going effects of
substance abuse, or a false belief. A false belief is one that is
demonstrably false and is material to the treatment decision.65, 66 For
example, a patient's denial of a true cancer diagnosis may prevent her from
making an informed treatment decision. Unconventional beliefs, including
religious beliefs, are not necessarily false beliefs. Respect for a parent's
decisions does not extend to decisions that are the product of illness or
mental incapacity or where the decision cannot be informed. When the parent
is not capable of making an informed decision, the pediatrician has a clear
ethical obligation to protect the infant.25, 65

The Tysons refused to follow medical advice because they do not believe that
HIV causes AIDS or is otherwise harmful. In response to South African
President Thabo Mbeki's similar denial of the causal link between HIV and
AIDS, hundreds of distinguished AIDS researchers recently produced the
Durban Declaration, which documents the overwhelming scientific evidence
contradicting this position.67 Because the Tysons cannot be dissuaded from
this false belief, it is appropriate to ask the courts to override their
decision to benefit their infant. However, they also objected to prophylaxis
because of concerns about the toxicity of zidovudine. Although zidovudine
prophylaxis to infants generally is considered safe, there can be short-term
adverse effects, and the long-term effects are not known.42 Hence, the
refusal of zidovudine prophylaxis was not based on a false belief. In these
unique circumstances, it might have been appropriate to override only the
decision based on a false belief, that is, to require bottle-feeding but not
require zidovudine prophylaxis."

Handy to have a dismissal of the entire argument that differing 'styles' of
breastfeeding have different measured transmission outcomes, as in the two
Coutsoudis, et al, articles about their study.  (these not referenced in
this article).

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

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