Whatever happened to choice?  Isn't everyone always going on about that?
But I guess choice is only the right to choose artificial feeding.  I
suppose this same neonatologist would defend the mother's right to feed
artificially even if there was an extremely strong history of juvenile
diabetes in the family or a strong family history of severe asthma.

Even a just a history of illicit drug use?  Don't we believe in
forgiveness or redemption anymore?  Once an abuser always an abuser, eh?

Sorry, no hard data available from me.  I think the neonatologist should
provide hard data that the children women with a history of alcohol
abuse or illicit drug use who are breastfed have poorer outcomes than
those who were not breastfed.

One case of possible intoxication of a baby from illicit drugs and we
are ready to make a policy like that.  Yet this neonatologist, every
day, uses drugs which have killed many people--ampicillin, gentamicin.
This fact does not seem to deter him from using them though.

Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC