Just for the record, I never advocated early weaning because of a drug.
Obviously, for the vast majority of drugs and babies, breastmilk with a
trace of drugs is much better than formula without other drugs. When there
is a conflict between bf and a particular drug, it is the drug, not the
breastfeeding, which should first be questioned and possibly modified.
While Hale's work is an important guideline, it seems pretty clear to me
that it was not written as an authoritarian decree.  That is, there is an
implicit understanding that an informed choice by a patient and her health
care provider which includes their own knowledge, experience and comfort
with the drug in question is a vitally important part of the treatment
plan.  No drug is intrinsically safe for everyone (even aspirin is fatally
toxic for some), and no drug is acceptable to the same degree by all
people, nor is tolerated identically by all nursing mothers and all
babies.  Decisions regarding the treatment plan must be made with this in
mind. On a case-by-case basis, the drug should be examined for its effect,
its appearance in breast milk, its possible side effects for mother and
baby, and safer alternatives if any.  And, as K. Dettwyler
said, “ . . .People need to know what the risk/benefit ratio is of
each option, and add that to their own personal feelings and comfort levels,
because we all worry about different things. But I cannot condone
withholding information from people so that they don't really know what they
are choosing.”
Keren has also written eloquently on this recently, and I enjoyed reading
her posts as well.
Colleen

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