Hi, all -- Pat's report about Martek's slick materials reminds me of some concerns I've had:  What
if Valerie was interviewed on a news program and said, succinctly and compellingly, some version
of the following:  The same people who are funding research to discredit breastfeeding are
working to patent as many components of human milk as they can.  The same people who are
telling the public that it is dangerous for an HIV positive mom to breastfeed are patenting
components of human milk for drugs to treat HIV.  And they are doing all of this because they
care more about profits than about public health.

This is what I think would happen:  An appealing, down-to-earth, telegenic researcher would say,
in effect:  It's apples and oranges.  Breastmilk, which can be and often is contaminated with
pathogens and pollutants, might not, as our research indicates, be protective.  But when we isolate
particularly helpful components of human milk and, in laboratory conditions, develop them into
state-of-the-art medications, individuals of all ages can be afforded the benefits of human milk
without any of the documented risks of breastfeeding.

I'm afraid the viewing audience would swallow that hook, line and sinker, and that what Valerie
and the rest of us see as an atrocity will seem like wonderful advances in healthcare to most
everyone else.

I guess I'm asking how Valerie hopes to reach a wider audience and asking everyone (not just
Valerie) how we get beyond tilting at windmills and get a chance at informing public opinion about
topics such as these when our competition is so savvy, well-funded and good at PR.

Kerry Ose, PhD in English, who is committed to the preservation of honest arguments.

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