Dear all:

While I would generally agree that there is fairly open discussion on Lactnet, I would have to disagree that it is completely open.  There are those who no longer post and those who refrain from fully posting because of fears of lawsuits.  A lawsuit doesn't have to be warranted to ruin someone who works in a small private practice.  Indeed, frivolous lawsuits by larger corporations with deep pockets can be used to great effect to stiffle conversation.   Just go back into the archives and read about the discussion about how, in the Harry Potter series  "Lord Voldemort" is referred to as “He Who Must Not Be Named” parallels about how we always talk about the risks of "not breastfeeding" instead of the risks of “formula feeding". 

Sometimes, it doesn't even take a large corporation or deep pockets, just one lawsuit happy individual.  Weird Al Yankovic has a You-Tube song about such individuals for those who appreciate his sense of humor.  I really hate (and also pity) such bullies.  I had a friend who became one of those bullies and is now obviously no longer a friend.  She started out with one lawsuit that was written up in Science magazine because it was the first time someone sued for “theft of intellectual property” from a PhD dissertation in an academic setting.  This friend deteriorated into making her life into an unpleasant, but clearly addictive, pursuit of lawsuits.  Even the man who dyes and cuts her hair is afraid of her now.  I cannot imagine how horrible life would be turning it into a battle against just about everyone else.   I have immensely more sympathy, however, for those who are unfairly subjected to the unfairly punitive outcome of being the target of such paranoia and its punishing economic consequences.  

Also, a difference between for profit and nonprofit organizations is transparency.  There less incentive for transparency when telling the full story might diminish profit.  So by design there is usually more transparency in nonprofit organizations.  One exception is when, within a nonprofit organization, there is the phenomenon of "robbing Peter to pay Paul".  For instance, if people donate tons of money for one particular disaster in excess of what is needed and there is another disaster that may not have been aired in the news media as much --- it is sometimes tempting to shift money designated for one disaster to the unmet need for funds for the disaster that was less "popular".

Sincerely,

Susan E. Burger 

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