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Subject:
From:
Liz Brooks <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 17 Jun 2003 22:52:15 -0400
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Well, *someone* has to say it (or, type it) out loud, and it may as well be
me.

Flash back to Fall 2002.  Joan Meek, MD, MS, RD, FAAP, IBCLC, is Editor in
Chief of the AAP’s book New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding ... and she and
members of the AAP Section on BF are (rightfully) outraged when Ross
Laboratories – without consulting *any* members of the AAP’s BF Section –
buys up bunches of the book, slaps their logo on the front, and starts
doling them out at hospitals.  Lactnet flares; e-mails and letters fly;
savvy lactation advocates agree:  this is a gross marketing ploy by the
formula company to clothe themselves with the prestige and respectability
afforded by AAP and Dr. Meek.

Fast forward to June 2003.  Dr. Meek tells Lactnet she is speaking at
several events arranged and paid for by Mead-Johnson.  While some places use
her preferred title of “DHA and ARA in the Infant’s Diet,” here in
Philadelphia it is entitled “DHA and ARA Supplementation in Infant Formula:
Implications for Infant Development.”   And, she explains further, “I agree
that formula marketing is a problem in this country. This talk is for
educational purposes for health care professionals. [I] am not promoting the
use of formula; I am educating health professionals about DHA, and what we
currently know about DHA for the breastfed baby and for the formula fed
baby. This talk has been set up by Mead Johnson, however, the formula
company does not provide input as to the content of my presentation.”

Anyone else find it ironic (even sardonic) that we see moral outrage when
one formula company trades on Dr. Meek’s well-known name without her
permission – while the other one can do so since they are footing the bill
for dinner?  And perhaps offering an honorarium?

If formula marketing is a problem ... and the goal is to educate health
professionals ... the higher road to take (and the one which meets the IBLCE
Code of Ethics) is one where the formula company is nowhere in sight.
Instead, offer the presentation to the convention planners for ABM, AAP,
AAFP, ILCA, NAPNAP, HMBANA, DONA, ADA ....


Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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