LACTNET Archives

Lactation Information and Discussion

LACTNET@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 19 Dec 2004 08:10:06 EST
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (48 lines)
Except for Baby Friendly hospitals, almost all other hospitals accept free 
infant formula for use in their nursery as a condition in contracts they have 
with formula companies. In looking at a copy of such a contract, the formula 
company typically gives the hospital a large amount of cash that is unrestricted 
in its use. The hospital also receives specialty formula, volu-feeds, and 
other equipment, help with attracting physicians to the hospital, architectural 
services, water bottles, discharge bags, etc. All of this is given with the 
expectation of something in return: use of the formula in the nursery (creates 
brand recognition), distribution of discharge bags (creates brand loyalty), 
unrestricted access of formula salespeople to the maternity unit even though they 
violate the hospital's vendor policy, attendance at sales pitches that 
masquerade as in-service education programs (to create loyalty to formula use and 
discredit breast milk and breastfeeding).

I reported these practices to the Inspector General of the Department of 
Health and Human Services who said that hospitals who engage in these practices 
could be violating the federal anti-kickback statute and be placing themselves 
in a position of not being able to receive Medicaid reimbursement. You can have 
your corporate compliance officer check on this issue. Infant formula is a 
food that can and should be part of the room and board charge, the same as 
foodtrays are for any other patient in a hospital. Purchasing infant formula 
amounts to about $.50 or so per feeding which comes out to about $3.00 a day. The 
price tags formula companies give the hospital is not for what the formula would 
cost to purchase, but the value the company places on the cash, equipment, 
and supplies that they give to the hospital.

Hospitals have become dependent and addicted to formula company money. Money 
buys influence which is why there is so much resistance to eliminating this 
plague from our hospitals. Hospitals can easily purchase the amount of formula 
they would need for non-breastfed infants, they just can't break their 
addiction. Supplementation rates of breastfed infants in the US is now at 23% which 
works towards formula company goals of creating the need to purchase formula.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

             ***********************************************

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(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

ATOM RSS1 RSS2