Valerie reminds us of the aggressive marketing currently engaged in by Mead
Johnson for its Lipil formula through the huge give away of free cases of
formula to every mother delivering on Labor Day. This brings to mind a couple
of items:

1. Where will Mead Johnson obtain the addresses of the mothers to send them
free cases of formula or will they get them as discharge gifts. If the
hospital provides the names it violates the privacy section of HIPPA and
should be reported to the Inspector General of the Department of Health and
Human Services.

2. NABA continues to receive reports of Lipil causing watery, explosive
diarrhea and vomiting in some babies. It is imperative that if you see this
happening it be reported to the FDA's MedWatch program and the manufacturer.
The formula companies are obligated to follow up on such reports.

3. All mothers should be informed that this formula is under investigation
for safety by the Institute of Medicine and that their baby will be part of
an uncontrolled experiment on the safety and side effects of its use.
Hospitals who use this formula or give it out should check with their Risk
Management Department regarding liability issues of giving this formula to
babies without the informed consent of the mother.

4. Contact Dr. Alan Greene, MD, FAAP at the Lucile Packard Children's
Hospital at Stanford University who extols the merits of this "gift" of a
case of formula and reminds the public that mothers usually can't breastfeed
beyond the first few months. Do we wonder why!!!

5. Also notice that Dr. Greene is a fellow with the AAP. We can clearly see
that all of the lobbying and pay offs to the AAP from formula companies pays
off! Contact the AAP and illustrate what the outcome is of accepting money
from formula companies!

As if we did not have enough to do.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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