At the request of Lee, I am sending this to Lactnet for her.  (Barbara 
Latterner)


From: Lee Galasso [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 4:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: 'Lee Galasso'
Subject: Hazards of formula
 
Dear Eric,Thank you for your “EXPOSE” entitled “Parents Say Hospital’s Baby 
Formula Led To Daughter’s Brain Damage.”Your work on this issue is very 
courageous because you are probably going to be faced with the wrath of the 
medical community and others in our society who refuse to acknowledge the many 
problems with formula (also known as artificial baby milk:  ABM). I hope I may 
comment on some of the important issues you raise in my mind: 1)  I really wonder 
why the parents don't sue the formula company.  (Perhaps the attorney, Nick 
Stein, does not realize that the ABM company is to blame…much more than the 
hospital staff.  Eric, you could share that info with Stein, or put me in touch 
with him and I will share it.)  In the United States, there is a precedence for 
it; lung cancer/cardiac patients sue tobacco companies and win.  According to 
the article, the ABM companies knew the hazards and did not put warning labels 
on the product, did not tell the general public about the risks.  Taking it a 
step further, ABM companies are well aware of the health risks of children 
not being breastfed; they strong-armed the Department of Health and Human 
Services (DHHS), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), into stopping that 
information from being made public during the past year when the Ad Council and 
the DHHS were about to launch a National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign 
revealing the research.  As a result, the campaign was watered down to not 
pointing a finger at the hazards, especially the statistics.  (Remember the recent 
reports of 2 babies who died in Israel because of formula and 9 who are still 
suffering because of the ABM they were fed – see the below link) 
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7475/1128-c?etoc “Babies fed defective 
formula are still being treated for neurological damage; Jerusalem, Judy 
Siegel-Itzkovich.  A year after the deaths from encephalopathy of two Israeli infants who 
were exclusively fed a soy formula made in Germany that lacked vitamin B1 
(thiamin) (BMJ 2003;327:1128), nine children are still being treated for serious 
neurological damage. Can you imagine a class-action lawsuit including every 
person in the country who was formula fed and has any health problems traceable 
to being deprived of breastmilk (i.e., being fed ABM)?  It's mind-boggling. 2) 
 Dr. Kris Bryant is somewhat responsible because of her position in that 
hospital.  When she speaks, she is protecting herself from being sued and from 
being fired by her hospital, which is afraid of its liability.  It is not just 
one case, as she states; we are talking about many worldwide.  How many?  Who 
knows?  A lot of doctors do not report the problems because they don’t recognize 
them, or because they are responsible for them and are afraid of liability.  
[I will never forget a baby I helped a few years ago who was dying on formula. 
 The MD refused to admit that the baby did better when she came off the ABM…
Why? Because the MD had recommended ABM feeding as it was easier for the 
mother, who was tired…but not as tired as when she had to spend weeks with the baby 
in the hospital.  After a week of being off the ABM, the baby went back to 
being healthy…the way she was for the first 2 months of her life when she was 
exclusively breastfed.] 3)  Why did the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put 
out only an ALERT instead of taking all powdered formula off the shelves in the 
hospitals, MDs’ offices, and supermarkets?  It is an unsterile product.  It 
should not be fed to babies, especially premies…They are more at risk than 
full-term babies and are being exposed to ABM, powdered or liquid.  That is 
criminal!  Most of the public isn’t aware of that; even the MDs don’t realize it.  
By the way, how did the FDA ever approve formula in the first place?  It is a 
hazardous baby product, only acceptable when ABSOLUTELY unavoidable (when no 
breastmilk is available from the baby’s mother, other lactating women, or a milk 
bank). 4)  Why is ABM distributed in the WIC programs all over the United 
States if it increases morbidity and mortality in infants?  WIC is a Federal 
program.  Who is lobbying the government and paying them to keep ABM distribution 
going?  Is the answer the pharmaceutical companies who knowingly produce a 
baby product that is hazardous so that they can make more and more profits?  Aren’
t those companies worse than the tobacco companies?  At least adults can 
refuse to smoke; infants cannot stop adults from feeding them a harmful product 
such as ABM.  The ABM companies bear the most responsibility for that; then the 
MDs/RNs/hospitals, and last, but not least, the parents.  All of them should 
be aware of the current information about the risks of not breastfeeding 
exclusively for at least six months, and after starting solids, continuing for at 
least a year or more (per the AAP).  According to the motto of the Department of 
Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council campaign:  Babies Were Born To 
Be Breastfed (or if they cannot be breastfed, at the very least to receive 
breastmilk).  Nick Stein has a foolproof case.  Dr. Bryant hung herself when she 
said:  “Hospitals are obliged to do the best they can with the information 
they have at the time.”  The research in the professional medical journals have 
pointed to the hazards of all ABM, liquid or powdered, for many decades.  She 
is responsible, as well as her hospital.It is no excuse to cry:  “Giving 
powdered formula to premature babies was a common practice when Ashley was born.”   
You don’t do something that research says is dangerous just because other 
doctors do it.  MDs take an oath to “first do no harm.”  They are harming babies 
with formula.  I would bet there are many lactation consultants, in Kentucky 
or other nearby states, who would be willing to be expert witnesses in this 
case.  Eric, please feel free to contact me if you wish.  As you can tell, this 
is an issue that is near and dear to my heart.  I have been a breastfeeding 
consultant for 30 years and have been frustrated by all the harm I have seen 
because of the ABM companies and the medical community with regard to the ABM fed 
to babies.  If you would pursue this through the associated press, you would 
be doing a tremendous amount of good for thousands of babies and new moms.  
Please don’t let this opportunity slip by; I haven’t! Sincerely,Lee Galasso, MS, 
IBCLC, RLCLactation Specialist in NY State Contact info:  914-245-2206  P.S.  
If you wish to, you have my permission to forward this to Nick Stein.     
























































































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