Enfamil killed baby Connor.

Note from The Incompetent Housewife, who is very sad and very pissed off:
I brought my 2-year-old baby Dori home from the hospital today after two days admitted due to an illness. She's OK, thank God. When I got online as I nursed her to sleep in my arms, I was confronted with this story and this one about a baby who was killed by a meningitis-causing bacteria in powdered infant formula. Our very minor ordeal was trying, but what this family experienced was absolutely tragic. My heart aches for Connor's memory, for his sister, his twin brother, his mom and his dad. It led me to send a note, once again, to some Mead Johnson employees with my questions about this case. Please don't dismiss it as rant. It may be, but I also have some serious questions here.



Hello Rick Skaar and colleagues at Mead Johnson,

I have an important question. Please read on.

First though, Rick, I wanted to tell you that I’m so glad you said you were going to resign from your job as an Enfamil rep immediately upon receipt of my mid-October e-mail. [The dude sent me a sarcastic and misspelled reply that he would be resigning his job thanks to my note.] I assume that means you won’t be getting this message, but I’ll pass it on in case your colleagues can benefit.

As you know, little Connor McGray is dead because of you. Tears welled up in my eyes when I heard about it. He was a living, breathing baby until six months ago. Did the loss of his precious life affect you the same way? Or did you leap into PR crisis mode and call in your legal counsel?

I fully realize that in this case you’re probably going to lamely attempt to hang your hats on the FDA statement recommending against use of powdered formulas in the NICU. Still, I’m curious how you can live with yourselves. So it’s OK if a full-term baby contracts E. sak. from your product? Oh, you’re probably going to tell me that a full-term baby has a more adequately developed immune system — but, oops, babies fed formula instead of their own mothers’ milk have weakened immune systems. (Don’t tell me that they do not. If breastmilk “is the superior form of infant nutrition,” as I learned on your web site, it follows that your products are inferior.)

The McGray family’s tragedy may be an extremely unusual occurrence. Connor was a sick baby, premature, a twin. I get that. Connor’s mother, who expressed her own milk for her baby, didn’t even know your tainted product was fed as a breastmilk “fortifier.”

What I cannot fathom is that every single day, you work to push your inferior products to perfectly healthy babies, jeopardizing their health every step of the way. Sometimes it’s E. sak., sometimes it’s increased risk for ear infections, allergies, diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, many childhood cancers, SIDS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, breast and ovarian cancer, and a host of other diseases.

You even attempt to take babies who are happily breastfed, and turn them into formula fed babies through your aggressive and unethical marketing tactics. One of them was the subject of my previous e-mail.

My question is this: How can you live with yourself?

Oh, I suppose what will pop into your mind is a defensive reply such as, “Uh, well no! We save lives!” If you really believe that’s the case and actually do care about the long-term health of the living, breathing human babies affected by your efforts, then by all means, I applaud you and suggest you take the following steps:

1. Stop violating the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes. Your “Marketing Guidelines” claim you comply with The Code. Clearly you do not.
2. Cease all marketing of your products directly to the general public. (This means no “free” samples, no advertising, no promotion directly to mothers and pregnant women, etc.)
3. Cease all marketing that attempts to sabotage breastfeeding. (Including any “free gift for Breastfeeding and Supplementing Moms.)
4. Allocate a portion of your marketing budget to goodwill by using a substantial sum to promote human milk banking. And I don’t mean to underhandedly push your products by saying human milk banking is best, but letting parents know your product is available just in case — as you do with breastfeeding. In layperson’s terms, we call that talking out both sides of your mouth.
5. Concentrate your resources on providing product for those truly rare cases in which you claim your product is the best option. I can’t think of what they are, but I suppose you have a list.
   
   I look forward to your reply.
   
   On behalf of the babies who don’t get the opportunity to “choose” how they are fed,
   
   Sue

Here is my last message to these folks, regarding Enfamil’s most recent sabotage of breastfeeding.

If you feel like sending your own message, here are the Mead Johnson e-mail addresses I used and that did not bounce back:

anita.carlton@bms.com, ann.jernstedt@bms.com, AskMeadJohnson@bms.com, bradford.kornegay@bms.com, brian.henry@bms.com, carol.berseth@bms.com, Charles.Urbain@bms.com, charmaine.wood@bms.com, donald.vaskey@bms.com, elizabeth.sitton@bms.com, EnfamilResourceCenter@Enfamil.com, gail.wood@bms.com, john.elicker@bms.com, jon.vanderhoof@bms.com, lonnie.rice@bms.com, meadjohnson.belgium@bms.com, meadjohnson.europe@bms.com, meadjohnson.france@bms.com, meadjohnson.grants1@bms.com, medicalservices.asia@bms.com, mg-mjn-scandinavia@bms.com, MJMedicalAffairs@bms.com, mjn.customerservices@bms.com, MJProductinformation@bms.com, pete.paradossi@bms.com, rebecca.goldsmith@bms.com, rick.skaar@bms.com, robin.wise@bms.com, sandra.melcolm@bms.com, sharon.jones@bms.com, sonia.demol@bms.com, Stanley.Burhans@bms.com, Steve.Golsby@bms.com, steven.harris@bms.com, susan.apple@bms.com, susan.mitmesser@bms.com, susan.wedeking@bms.com, Vern.McCrory@bms.com

For tags only:
Alexander MacPherson, Anita Carlton, Ann Jernstedt, Bradford Kornegay, Brian Henry, Carol Berseth, Charles M. Urbain, Charmaine Wood, Donald Vaskey, Elizabeth Sitton, Gail Wood, John Elicker, Jon Vanderhoof, Lonnie Rice, Pete Paradossi, Peter Kasper Jakobsen, Rebecca Goldsmith, Rick Skaar, Robin Wise, Sandra Melcolm, Sharon Jones, Sonia Demol, Stanley Burhans, Steve Golsby, Steven Harris, Susan Apple, Susan Mitmesser, Susan Wedeking, Vern McCrory