In a message dated 98-02-26 12:58:18 EST, Carolyn Brown writes:

<< At a hearing a couple weeks later, my co-Leader and a
 local IBCLC both testified that the baby's weight gain was slow but well
 within normal limits.  This had little if any effect that day.  The baby was
 out of the mother's custody for eight weeks.  A month before the mother
 regained custody, they finally got their second opinion - a pediatrician
 examined all the recorded weights and the baby and declared that nothing had
 been amiss; the baby should not have been hospitalized, much less taken from
 the mother.  The mother did pump some, but ultimately decided to discontinue
 breastfeeding, because she is worried that it could again lead to the baby
 being taken from her. >>

Dear Carolyn,

I have also been furious also about situations like this.

What I am hoping for one day is that the injured party sues the various
agencies and doctors involved.  The lack of bmilk is certainly well-documented
to be a factor in increased incidence of many diseases as well as general ill
health, etc....  People who are arrested falsely can sue, so I hope this can
happen one day with a baby who is removed from a family falsely and can
demonstrate physical or emotional damage as a result.

I further fantasize about a day when individual cases or class-action suits
come up suing formula companies for manipulative techniques or false
advertising, etc...  along the lines of what the tobacco companies and the
breast implant manufacturers are experiencing.

The United States is often an overly litigious society, so it might as well be
put to some good.

Karen Seroussi, La Leche League Leader in CT and (obviously) daughter of an
attorney