Chris mentioned to us that a drug salesman told health care providers that 5
star restaurants and gifts were no longer allowed. It is important to note
that there are no real pharmaceutical regulations regarding these practices. The
Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services
issued the OIG Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.
This is available from the OIG web site at http://oig.hhs.gov. It was also
announced in the Federal Register on May 5, 2003. "The document is intended to
present VOLUNTARY guidance to the industry and not to represent binding
standards for pharmaceutical manufacturers." This exact quote allows industry to do
what it wants until caught. Voluntary codes do not work!

A perfect example is the announcement that Jeanette gave us yesterday
regarding the California WIC program which will be switching all of its babies to
Similac Advance on August 1. The California WIC program was heavily wooed by the
formula companies to use these new formulas. They trotted out all their
experts, the ones who they paid to do the research, who they paid to put on dog and
pony shows about how good the new fatty acids are, all the while distorting or
omitting the risk of these formulas. They promised smarter babies so why
would a mother even need to bother with breastfeeding? We already knew mothers
were confused about these new formulas because they were asking WIC for the
formula with breast milk in it or the breastmilk formula! This tactic works! This
is a major barrier to breastfeeding. We work so hard to help mothers choose and
continue to breastfeed while the competitor promises the moon with dubious
claims of higher IQs.

I bet the WIC contract will soon be ready for negotiation in the states where
the companies are putting on their dinners and lectures. And if that isn't
enough, the companies have threatened to stop making the regular formulas
anyway! We need to keep on working hard to prepare for World Breastfeeding Week and
here in the US to prepare for the launch of the breastfeeding promotion
campaign in October. The companies have already geared up to counter WBW and the
campaign launch. We need to be ready too.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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