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Date: | Sun, 5 Sep 2010 13:11:35 -0400 |
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Marsha, may I forward your post to the ABM ethics comittee? - It relates to
a discussion we were having.
Gail
Gail S. Hertz, MD, IBCLC
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----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2010 9:04 AM
Subject: Formula company macinations
Marie has again mentioned Abbott's "expert" feeding line. This relationship
between infant formula companies and intermediaries is truly disturbing.
Another example is the infant feeding information at WebMD which is
completely sponsored by Gerber (Nestle). I wrote the following note to a
wonderful blog, PhD in Parenting at www.phdinparenting.com which has
discussed these relationships, specifically Babble.com's selling out to
Abbott. Both the blog and my note below mention actions to take. I am
extremely concerned about the safety of the information being provided at
Babble.com and WebMD as well as the safety and quality of advice being
dispensed by Life Care employees.
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA
It is certainly disappointing to see that Babble.com has succumbed to the
tantalizing efforts of Abbott to engage others in its drive to cause more
mothers to purchase Similac formula products. When a mother calls the phone
number provided by Abbott she reaches Life Care, a company who has also been
duped into marketing infant formula for Abbott. The person a mother reaches
is not an IBCLC, but an employee who has taken an on-line course in
breastfeeding. IBCLCs do not work for formula companies because it presents
a conflict of interest. Therefore, mothers are being mislead into thinking
that the help with breastfeeding that they will receive is being provided by
someone credentialed to do so. I am concerned that a mother will receive
inappropriate information for a situation that is truly serious and suffer
an adverse outcome. Risky business. Babble.com places mothers and babies at
risk for referring mothers to a resource that may not be qualified to
deliver the advertised services in a safe manner.
Abbott and other formula companies have escalated their marketing campaigns
due to dropping birth rates and more mothers breastfeeding. You can see more
of this type of marketing at WedMD, whose infant feeding section is
completely sponsored by Gerber (Nestle). The co-opting of infant feeding
information on the web by formula companies is worrisome. Formula companies
provide breastfeeding information as a mechanism to whitewash their image
and sell more of their product, not as a community service.
If a mother needs help with breastfeeding she can contact the US Lactation
Consultant Association’s website at http://www.uslca.org to find an IBCLC
credentialed lactation consultant near her.
If we wish to help the intermediaries refrain from providing inappropriate
and potentially damaging information ask Babble to stop peddling formula for
Abbott, ask WebMD to stop peddling formula for Nestle. You can also consider
reporting Life Care to the Connecticut state attorney general’s office and
Abbott to the Illinois state attorney general’s office. Complaints can also
be sent to the Better Business Bureau in Connecticut and Illinois.
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