The Campaign is being threatened. Below is Dr. Gartner's email to all members of the AAP Section on Breastfeeding. In my next email is the letter that the President of AAP sent to the Secretary Thompson, DHHS. After that I will send Dr. Gartner's response on behalf of the 800 of us in the section. Please help by writing calm, well reasoned, short letters to Mr. Thompson in support of the Campaign as it is, without changes (ie. the risks of NOT breastfeeding). Dr. Gartner's email (with his permission): Dear Colleagues: We recently learned of the existence of a letter sent over the signature of Dr. Carden Johnston, the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, to Secretary Tommy G. Thompson of Health and Human Services, both applauding the Breastfeeding Awareness Campign and also objecting to the use of "risks incurred by not breastfeeding" in the PSA's. I spoke with Dr. Joe Sanders, Executive Director of AAP to find out if such a letter had been sent and the circumstances of its development. He confirmed that the letter had been mailed on November 6, 2003. A copy of the letter is attached. Dr. Sanders indicated that this letter was written by the Executive Committee, which consists of Dr. Carden Johnston, Dr. Carol Berkowitz and Dr. Joe Sanders. We have not been able to confirm whether Dr. Berkowitz knew of the existence of the letter. Other sources have indicated that the AAP Board of Directors did NOT know about this letter, although the issue was discussed at the Board meeting in New Orleans in the context of their deliberations over the US Breastfeeding Committee's Strategic Plan. The advertising campaign is one of the items on the USBC agenda. It was Dr. Sanders himself who introduced and led the discussion of the USBC Strategic Plan at the AAP Board meeting, unusual for him to do so on such an issue. During my lengthy conversation with Dr. Sanders, he admitted, after I asked, that formula company representatives had approached him at the New Orleans meeting to express their great objection to the Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign and particularly to the "negative approach." It is my understanding that the formula companies have been lobbying many leaders in AAP and also in other organizations, including AAFP. It is alleged that they also have contacted congressmen and other legislators. There is every reason to believe that they are pulling out all the stops to get this ad campaign buried, or, at least, modified to be less effective. In response to my question about whether Drs. Sanders and Johnston considered contacting someone within the Section on Breastfeeding to discuss their concerns, Dr. Sanders said, "No, they did not." I expressed very serious concern that they had excluded us from the loop and had gone off to take an action relating directly to breastfeeding and to the section without having any discussion with us. It is clear that Drs. Sanders and Johnston simply did not want to talk to us about this matter. I told Dr. Sanders that the Section on Breastfeeding intended to write directly to Mr. Thompson to express a view contrary to that of Dr. Johnston's letter. He did not respond. This entire affair is a very serious matter which raises many questions about the leadership of the AAP and the influence of the formula industry on AAP activities. The letter to Secretary Thompson from the Section on Breastfeeding is attached. It was sent today by Fed Ex. It may have some effect, but what is needed is for everyone to write letters to Secretary Thompson indicating support for the Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign in its current form. Please get as many people as possible to write. Time is of the essence. Thanks for all of your support and suggestions. Larry Lawrence M. Gartner, M.D. Professor Emeritus, Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynecology The University of Chicago Nancy E. Wight MD, FAAP, IBCLC Neonatologist, Children's Hospital, and Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women Medical Director, Lactation Services, Sharp HealthCare San Diego, CA, USA Email: [log in to unmask] *********************************************** 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