In a message dated 97-03-12 21:11:47 EST, you write:

<<  He went to the PDR and it states it is
 contraindicated.  His case, if this went to court that the attorney's would
 go to the PDR and use it as the ultimate word and find him liable.  I stated
 that all the experts world wide use this information and Tom Hale's book and
 I believe it would stand up in court as expert documentation since they have
 researched the effects of these drugs.  Am I barking up the wrong tree here
 or not any help would be appriciated.  I use these two sources all the time
 (Briggs/Hale) and never the PDR.  TIA >>

The PDR is nothing more than a compilation of patient package inserts which
are primarily designed as marketing tools, and use the manufacturers
"studies" on the product -- not other studies that have been done.  Most of
them have not done anything on lactating women, so other studies have to be
pulled together -- a la Briggs & Hale.  Your anesthesiologist is wrong.  The
PDR (Pretty Dumb Reference) is NOT the authoritative, definitive reference on
drugs -- let alone on drugs & bf.  It says "no" to everything, and according
to my dh the pharmacist, most of those statements are CYA statements written
by lawyers.  You will notice that there are basically two statements about bf
in the PDR.   ONe says, "It is not known if this drug passes into the bm.
 Because many drugs do pass into the bm, a decision should be made as to
whether to discontinue the drug or discontinue bf, taking into account the
importance of the drug to the mother."  (Keep in mind that they want to sell
drugs, not breastfeeding....)  The other statements says, "This drug passes
into the bm.  Because of the potential for adverse effects on the baby (note
it doesn't say what the adverse effects are or if there really ARE any), a
decision needs to be made as to whether to d/c the drug or d/c bf, taking
into account yada yada yada....."  Briggs & Hale both look at any other
studies they can find.  They both use the AAP reference as a guide.  If you
got up in court and cited the AAP/Briggs/Hale as being THE definitive works
on drugs and bf -- the only ones interested in making sure the mother
continues bf, you would win.  One of these days, a baby whose mother was told
to pump & dump for a frivolous reason (like the PDR says it recommends you
don't bf on this drug), and the baby suffers severe allergies or goes into
anaphylactic shock from the formula, and the parents SUE the drug
manufacturer for the information in the PDR, then and only then, might they
take the time to put the CORRECT information into their literature.

Jan Barger -- who gave up using the PDR years ago in favor of AAP/Briggs/Hale
and the AFHS Drug Information -- which isn't as good as Briggs/Hale but gives
me more information about a drug than the PDR.