As someone who's been there, I have to say that even the most informed mother
is up against some very stiff odds when it comes to defying a doctor in her
face telling her that because of this or that her baby needs something other
than the breast.
Technically, the parents (re:mother) has final say.  It takes a strong woman,
not a common trait in newly postpartum moms, to refuse to follow the Drs.
orders.  Been there, done that!  It can be done, but only with a solid
background of knowledge and preferably some supporters.  It also requires
knowing who, exactly, is in charge and going directly to that person.
In one situation it may be the ped., while in another it may be a surgeon.  As
a former LLLL, I was in a position of knowledge when I went through my ordeal,
but had I not had the background, I would never have been able to stand up to
the doctors.
It is easy for US to see what the mother should have done, but to the
uninformed or minimally informed mother standing there, it is hard to argue
with a doctor who is talking about these issues in a life or death context,
whether that's true or not.
I put together a preliminary guide a la LLL style for the BF mother of the
hospitalized baby, but there wasn't much response in the local BF coalition,
so I didn't complete the project.  If there is enough interest, I would be
happy to work on it again and send it to anyone that was interested.  It
wasn't intended for sale anyway.
I did address the issue of authority in it because that's really  what it all
comes down to.

Your sister in Christ,
Cyndi Egbert