I really enjoyed reading Magda's international perspective on this topic. However, I have to comment on the unethical reasoning being displayed about products. How come a chiropractor has vitamins in his office to complement his/her therapies and it isn't seen as a conflict? And, I recently had a new breastpump product that I sold that didn't meet the needs of my clients and I did a lot of work to support the returns for revised pumps for all of my clients. Now, if I hadn't worked with these clients, even borrowing pumps to them in the interim, these women would have purchased their pumps at a retail store and would have had low volumes pumped and be not breastfeeding today. Ethically, did I do the right thing? Absolutely! Even to the point of no longer carrying the product. My whole reasoning for becoming a rental station for breastpumps 3 years ago was being tired of seeing my neighbors purchasing/renting their pumps from a store with no instructions on its use and losing their milk and quitting. The stores cannot liability-wise do any instruction on the use of breastpumps, so they sell the products in a sealed box, and the women take it home and misuse it. Am I unethical to try to sell a product with the professional ability to educate clients on its proper use? Now I realize I could tell the client to go over to the nearby store and purchase the pump and then come back to me and I'll teach you how to use it. Hmm....I doubt I'd have many clients and I absolutely wouldn't have an office in the community. In my part of the world I need this marketing tool to obtain and retain clients. I understand it is different in other parts of the world. Since it is different and we are international, we need to accept the fact that the sale of products may be deemed ethical in one part of the world and not in another just like the professional functions ethically different in many parts of the world. Carol Chamblin, RN, MS, IBCLC Breast 'N Baby Lactation Services, Inc. St. Charles, IL *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] 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