Hi Cathy,
It's a problem when marketing claims are made about a product before
relevant research is published. It is even more problematic when marketing
claims are being made that have not been evaluated by research. I think that
people are particular upset at the claim that this is a "risk-free" product
in terms of babies being able to easily move between breast and bottle. Many
are also upset because they had been given the impression that Medela were a
company that supported breastfeeding and they feel betrayed by their blatant
exploitation of breastfeeding women.
Of course it is difficult when we have personal relationships with
individuals involved in Medela's research. I also very much feel for the
women who donated their bodies and time to research never imagining that the
research would be used to market a bottle in ways that were unethical and
undermined the human rights of mothers. There are many researchers who
accept funding from industry and produce good research. There also are many
researchers (myself included) who could well receive funding from companies
that breach the International Code but who have chosen not to. Certainly
there are benefits to accepting funding from industry but there are costs
also- you can't have the good without the bad. Part of the bad will be on
display next week when Peter Hartmann is assisting in the launch and
marketing of the Calma in Melbourne.
Karleen Gribble
Australia


-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cathy Fetherston
Sent: Friday, 11 February 2011 2:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: commercial demonisation and industry funded research (long)

Hi everyone,

I have been reading with increasing concern the posts regarding both
the calma teat and medela in general and am very worried about the
escalating emotions surrounding these topics, and what they mean for us as a
profession.

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

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