For far too long we and the news media have allowed the formula industry to get away with calling their use of hospital employees as unpaid distribution agents for their promotional samples.  The gift bags are not "gifts" because ultimately the consumer pays for the promotional samples and then some.  The rampant distribution of a huge oversupply of "promotional" samples is environmentally wasteful and detracts from patient care.  Hospital employees are donating their time on the hospitals dollar to store and distribute these samples.  As a taxpayer I pay more in my taxes for subsidies to hospitals and medicaid for preventable illnesses and higher rates to our private insurance policy as well.  

Marcia Walker, do you know if anyone has ever calculated the costs of formula subsidies to the average middle class taxpayer ?  Or the increased cost to our health insurance policies from all the preventable illnesses that are caused by formula use?  Not the big numbers for the nation, but the small numbers that hit the individual families pocket books?  

Best, Susan Burger

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