Sign up for FDA medication / food recall and safety alerts

 As parents, we’re always concerned that our babies and kids’ toys and gear will get recalled at some point. I’ve advocated an easy way to keep up to date with those recalls in the past: simply sign up for product recalls with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

It seems crazy but even though we constantly hear about a new toy or piece of baby gear getting recalled, many more foods or medications are recalled in the same amount of time. Today is November 17, 2010, and so far the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has issued 15 recalls or safety alerts on food products or medications for the month of November, including several cheeses, apple cider and eggs. You can view the complete list of FDA’s recalls and safety alerts on the FDA’s website. Unless you’re glued to your TV watching local news or reading your local newspaper every day, you may not hear about those recalls. Well, until they reach mass proportion status, such as the infamous recall of billion of eggs because of salmonella poisoning risk over the past few months.

An easy way to keep up with these recalls and safety alerts and make sure that the foods and medications in your house are safe for your family is to sign up to receive FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts. Get an email when there’s a concern, delete if it doesn’t apply to you, or take action if it does. This is one great way to keep up with the food and medication recall announcements without worrying about not hearing about them!

Do something good for yourself and your family today and sign up for FDA recalls and alerts.

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Britax recalls infant car seats due to laceration and choking hazards

Britax chaperone infant car seat recalled

Phew, we dodged the bullet on that one! We own two Britax car seats but they’re the Marathon model, so we’re OK this time! If you know of someone who uses a Britax Chaperone infant car seat for their baby, let me know about this recall.

Britax is recalling its Chaperone Infant car seats with model numbers E9L95P2 (Red Mill), E9L95P3, E9L95P5 (Cowmooflage), E9L69N9 (Moonstone) manufactured between April 2009 and May 2010. The white serial label with the seat’s serial number, model number, and manufacture date can be found on the underside of the car seat.

The car seat’s harness chest clip can break and pose a laceration hazard. Due to its small size, it also poses a choking hazard. Consumers should immediately contact Britax for a free repair kit, which includes a replacement chest clip. Registered owners have been directly contacted by Britax.

See this Britax infant car seat recall on CPSC’s web site.

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Why is breastfeeding not considered a medical necessity?

With the current US administration undertaking the reform of healthcare in this past year, including eliminating pre-existing condition clauses meant to deny coverage, you’d think the US would be making progress towards supporting breastfeeding too. Well, it seems that is not yet the case… Even though some laws have been passed to allow more women to breastfeed in public, get a dedicated place to pump at work and get some unpaid breaks to do so, there is still a long way to go. One big sign that our government doesn’t believe in the “higher powers” of breastmilk? A breastpump is still not tax deductible, whether it is a manual or an electric breast pump.

Most US companies offer flexible spending accounts to their employees, allowing them to pay for their medical expenses with pre-tax dollars. Doctor co-pays, prescription co-pays, hospital bills and most dental procedures are covered. Breastpumps? Nope. I see why the IRS would be worried of opening Pandora’s box if breastpumps were a tax-deductible purchase. Moms who can’t breastfeed or decide not to breastfeed would complain that infant formula is a medical necessity in their case and that it should also be tax deductible. I bet the infant formula manufacturers constantly lobby Congress to get it on the list! But the issue would then be to wonder, is manufactured formula the same as breastmilk, when most of us know that both foods are not, and just can’t be the equal.

Why should the IRS consider breastmilk a medical necessity, deemed worthy of a tax exemption? Because liquid gold has been shown in many studies to:

– reduce your baby’s risk to catch many illnesses, or prevent them from getting as sick
– be more gentle on your baby’s digestive system
– can prevent your baby from developing food allergies
– contain growth factors that ensure the best development of your baby’s organs
– may boost your child’s intelligence (who doesn’t like that reason?)
– may protect your child from obesity
– offers plenty of health benefits to mom too!

I previously made my own list of the 10 things people don’t tell you about breastfeeding, but the list above has a little more scientific value, in case you needed that!

Medela breast pump, Pump in Style

Breastmilk still provides the most complete and optimal mix of nutrients, fluids and calories only a human being can provide to another. And a breast pump will help a mom continue to breastfeed her baby even after she returns to work. Using a breast pump, a mom doesn’t have to make a hard choice between breastmilk or formula, working or staying at home. With most breast pumps ranging from $100 to almost $300, a tax break of 10 to 20% would be nice. I was lucky enough to get my Medela Pump in Style from a family member and I loved it, using it several times a day for over a year for each of my boys. However most insurance companies don’t cover the cost or subsidize the purchase of breastpumps. Again, they don’t consider it a medical necessity.

To all of the health insurance companies and the IRS, I’d like to ask: why is Viagra only requires a co-pay and is tax deductible (= medical necessity) but a breastpump isn’t??? My guess is that the IRS and the insurance companies are run by older men, instead of real moms. Sometimes, I really feel that our boobs are underappreciated for what they can really do. I hope one day I get to see a change in our corporate world and government, and for someone to stand up and acknowledge that “breastmilk feeds life”. Liquid gold it is!

What’s your personal take on this issue?

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