August is officially breastfeeding awareness month in Monterey County. Yesterday I attended the Breastfeeding Coalition's Awards Luncheon. There were some politicians there, moms like me, and health care professionals including the speaker, Dr. Reddy of Acacia Medical Group, who spoke on the "No Free Lunch." The idea behind this is that the free formula samples and free samples of medications given by pharmaceutical companies are not actually free. The one time savings passed on through the samples cost the normal consumer more money so the companies don't lose a profit. Moms can't go back to breastfeeding after going to formula (once their supply is diminished) and they are stuck buying formula. The state also gets rebates for every can of formula that WIC hands out and the worst part is that the company who gets the job is the company who gives the state the best rebate - NOT the company that offers the best product for babies or the product that comes closest to resembling breastmilk. (Although I'm convinced formual really doesn't come close to matching the benefits of breastmilk and breastfeeding.) Another astonishing thing I learned was that there 1 pharmaceutical sales rep for every 4.7 physicians out there. That's just crazy - doctors offices see these reps on an average of 50 times a year. The companies take the doctors to lunch and lavish them with trips and gifts influencing them to choose their drugs. These are profit-driven tactics that are not in the best interest of patients.
Here's some relevant links for more information if you are interested:
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