Dear Lactnetters, Following are some of the details I gleaned from 2 days in the courtroom during the Tyson case in Eugene, Oregon. First to testify yesterday was Dr. Jack Newman, who was contacted by phone. We could hear babies crying in the background throughout his testimony. Dr. Jack made an eloquent case for the mother's right to an informed consent, and stated that although the evidence we have on transmission via bfdg is worrisome, the studies have some flaws. At this point, the State's attorney (appointed to represent baby Felix) objected, and asked Dr. J a series of questions around his professional background and experience with HIV and breastfeeding. Because Dr Jack is not a researcher on HIV and bfdg, nor a clinician who specializes in treating AIDS cases, the judge held that Dr. J was not qualified to give an opinion to the court as to whether a well woman who is HIV+ wd subject her child to risk by bfdg. Because of a glitch in the telephone sound system, Jack got to answer a couple questions that State's counsel had objected to, but the judge commented that he would hear Jack's evidence as a "mere pediatrician". interestingly, the day before, when Dr. Tom Roe ( a local ped) was on the stand, he was allowed to give his opinion on this same question. The next witness was Dr. Roberto Giraldo, a native of Colombia. He has treated and researched immune deficiencies for over 30 years as his life's work. His recently published work asserts that AIDS is not caused by HIV (which he states is a fiction), but by various stressors to the person's system, which include: chemicals (i.e, drugs); physical stressors (EMFs, radiation); biological stressors (other viruses, parasites, sperm); nutritional stressors (inadequate or unbalanced diet); and mental stressors. Dr. Giraldo also asserted that none of the tests currently used to test for HIV are accurate. The next witness called was Dr. George Kent, a professor of political science at University of Hawaii, and a consultant to various NGOs (the UN, UNICEF, WABA, the CDC and others) on the nutrition rights of children. During the usual preliminary reading of the witness credentials, the judge asked the Tyson's attorney what he was hoping to accomplish with this witness. The response given was that Dr. Kent has been involved at a national and international level with public policy making regarding HIV and breastfeeding. The judge stated that Dr. Kent's testimony would be irrelevant, since the case was being heard in Oregon, and that he (Judge Merten) needed no help from other policy-making bodies to interpret Oregon state law. Kathleen and David Tyson each took the witness stand briefly, followed by closing arguments from each legal team. The State's attorneys likened bfdg in this case to having one's child ride down the street on the roof of one's car, that even if you drive slowly, or put the child in a carseat, it's still too dangerous, and therefore the State has an obligation to step in and protect the child. It was also asserted that what is most important is the time the parents spend with their child , not the breastmilk, and that there were plenty of people in the courtroom who had been raised on formula who were perfectly healthy. That if breastmilk were such a marvellous substance, then formula companies wd be setting up milk banks on every corner and begging lactating mothers to donate their milk. That even if current medical and scientific opinion were later proven wrong, the loss from not bfdg wd be a small one, and that this mother is unwilling to make the "small sacrifice" of not bfdg. You guys/gaias already know the outcome of the case, and This post is already way too long, so I won't add any more details. Yours Truly in Eugene Oregon, Martha Johnson RN IBCLC ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] *********************************************** 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