Jaye vented and started to ask for input but I am not sure I caught the
question.  In case it was about what to do next in the situation with the
baby who was far below birth weight at two weeks and a doctor who reportedly
hadn't impressed upon the parents the need to get enough food into the baby,
here is my suggestion.  

Bite the bullet and write the doc a letter outlining your concerns. 
'According to the parents, your opinion was that it was not necessary to
supplement what the baby was taking at the breast.  I'm concerned because
the weight loss on day x was yy percent and baby's output was not in line
with expectations for a child this age.'   Or whatever.  You could simply
send a copy of the letter to the local regulatory authority and list them as
recipients of a copy so the doctor knows it, or you could tell the doctor
that your concern is such that if you do not hear from her/him within a
finite period of time (I'd give her/him 3 days) you will notify such
authority.  I'd recommend the latter.

While you believe it to be unlikely, it is still possible that the parents
haven't understood what the doctor advised, or that they are willfully
misrepresenting it.  The golden rule applies here - do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.  The legal variation on that theme is 'lex
talionis', the law of retribution, evening things out to the tune of an eye
for an eye, etc.  If everyone followed the golden rule we wouldn't need to
strike people's eyes out, and we wouldn't endanger our own vision either.  

If you would prefer that other practitioners checked with you when they felt
you were dispensing advice from an orifice at the far end of your body from
your brain, then you have to take the trouble to do the same.  Even when you
are ninety-nine percent sure that the parents had crap treatment and the
baby was endangered.  It also strengthens your case when making a formal
complaint if you can show that you have first asked the practitioner in
question to clarify, especially if they don't respond appropriately to your
request.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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