Hi Lactnetters: By way of introduction, I am a new LC who is also a lawyer, a LLL leader and a mom of three children ages 11 to 3 years. I have been enjoying the wisdom of Lactnet. A fellow LC and I were about to purchase some tubing for nursing supplementers when we became aware of the following news release. Does anyone know anything about this and what this means for nursing supplementers (and for all tube feeding, for that matter)? Ellen Maughan, JD, IBCLC New Jersey Health Canada Panel Warns That Plasticizer in PVC Medical Devices May Harm Developing Babies, Infants, Boys WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- A Health Canada Expert Advisory Panel recommends that health care providers not use DEHP containing devices in the treatment of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, infants, males before puberty and patients undergoing cardiac bypass, hemodialysis or heart transplant surgery. In a report that was finalized on January 11 and posted on the Health Canada website today, the expert panel also named certain patient groups and medical procedures that require urgent action: Alternate measures are immediately justifiable and should be introduced as quickly as possible to protect those sub-populations at greatest risk, namely the fetus, newborns, infants and young children receiving transfusions, ECMO, cardiopulmonary by-pass, exchange transfusion, hemodialysis, TPN {Total Parenteral Nutrition} and lipophilic drug formulations. The Health Canada report follows a September 2001 FDA Safety Assessment on DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl-phthalate), the plasticizer used to soften PVC medical products such as bags and tubing. The US report found that DEHP may not be safe for infants, children and adults receiving certain medical treatments that involve PVC medical devices. "The Health Canada expert panel report is the strongest call to action yet on PVC medical devices softened with DEHP," said Charlotte Brody, RN, Director of Health Care Without Harm. "The FDA assessment said there is a problem. The Health Canada panel report tells health care providers what to do about the problem-to label all products with DEHP and to do what we can to keep it away from certain patient groups and all pregnant women, babies and boys." The expert panel recognizes that "alternative products are already available" for some DEHP-containing products and encourages research into alternatives for other products. "The Health Canada panel is wisely recommending a course of action that insures that patients receive needed medical therapies," said Ted Schettler, MD, Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network. "But when we have alternatives to DEHP softened medical devices, and in nearly all cases we do, we should be using them." The full report is posted on the Health Canada website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb-dgps/therapeut/zfiles/english/advcomm/eap/dehp /eap- dehp-final-report-2002-jan-11-e.pdf . For more information, visit http://www.noharm.org or call Health Care Without Harm at +1-202-234-0091. http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X10748277 ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html