Dear Lactnetters,
Following are some of the details I gleaned from 2 days in the courtroom
during the Tyson case in Eugene, Oregon.

First to testify yesterday was Dr. Jack Newman, who was contacted by
phone.  We could hear babies crying in the background throughout his
testimony.  Dr. Jack made an eloquent case for the mother's right to an
informed consent, and stated that although the evidence we have on
transmission via bfdg is worrisome, the studies have some flaws.  At this
point, the State's attorney (appointed to represent baby Felix) objected,
and asked Dr. J a series of questions around his professional background
and experience with HIV and breastfeeding.  Because Dr Jack is not a
researcher on HIV and bfdg, nor a clinician who specializes in treating
AIDS cases, the judge held that Dr. J was not qualified to give an
opinion to the court as to whether a well woman who is HIV+ wd subject
her child to risk by bfdg.  Because of a glitch in the telephone sound
system, Jack got to answer a couple questions that State's counsel had
objected to,  but the judge commented that he would hear Jack's evidence
as a "mere pediatrician".  interestingly, the day before, when Dr. Tom
Roe ( a local ped) was on the stand, he was allowed to give his opinion
on this same question.

The next witness was Dr. Roberto Giraldo, a native of Colombia.  He has
treated and researched immune deficiencies for over 30 years as his
life's work.  His recently published work asserts that AIDS is not caused
by HIV (which he states is a fiction), but by various stressors to the
person's system, which include: chemicals (i.e, drugs); physical
stressors (EMFs, radiation); biological stressors (other viruses,
parasites, sperm); nutritional stressors (inadequate or unbalanced diet);
and mental stressors.  Dr. Giraldo also asserted that none of the tests
currently used to test for HIV are accurate.

The next witness called was Dr. George Kent, a professor of political
science at University of Hawaii, and a consultant to various NGOs (the
UN, UNICEF, WABA, the CDC  and others) on the nutrition rights of
children. During the usual preliminary reading of the witness
credentials, the judge asked the Tyson's attorney what he was hoping to
accomplish with this witness.  The response given was that Dr. Kent has
been involved at a national and international level with public policy
making regarding HIV and breastfeeding.  The judge stated that Dr. Kent's
testimony would be irrelevant, since the case was being heard in Oregon,
and that he (Judge Merten) needed no help from other policy-making bodies
to interpret Oregon state law.

Kathleen and David Tyson each took the witness stand briefly, followed by
closing arguments from each legal team.  The State's attorneys likened
bfdg in this case to having one's child ride down the street on the roof
of one's car, that even if you drive slowly, or put the child in a
carseat, it's still too dangerous, and therefore the State has an
obligation to step in and protect the child.   It was also asserted that
what is most important is the time the parents spend with their child ,
not the breastmilk, and that there were plenty of people in the courtroom
who had been raised on formula who were perfectly healthy.  That if
breastmilk were such a marvellous substance, then formula companies wd be
setting up milk banks on every corner and begging lactating mothers to
donate their milk.  That even if current medical and scientific opinion
were later proven wrong, the loss from not bfdg wd be a small one, and
that this mother is unwilling to make the "small sacrifice" of not bfdg.

You guys/gaias already know the outcome of the case, and
This post is already way too long, so I won't add any more details.
Yours Truly in Eugene Oregon,
Martha Johnson RN IBCLC
___________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html