Continuing Education Recognition Points (CERPs) for educational programs funded or sponsored by commercial entities
At its March 2009 meeting, the IBLCE Board of Directors deferred a final decision about awarding CERPs to educational programs offered by Medela, Inc. until after it had an opportunity to review the larger issue of awarding CERPS to education funded or sponsored by commercial entities. At that time it established a special taskforce to review this matter and report back to the Board with its recommendations. As a result of this review, IBLCE has resolved that, as of June 30, 2009, IBLCE will no longer accept CERP applications from Medela.
For the rest of this statement, please go to: IBLCE Website – PDF file
This is important to me because it means that the organization that is responsible for my certification is FINALLY putting it’s money where its mouth is. Medela is a commercial entity. They have been sponsoring educational sessions on breastfeeding (mostly pumping related, which is no surprise) seemingly forever. So has Ameda. Neither company has any business sponsoring continuing education for IBCLCs since they are commercial entities and there is an inherent conflict of interest with ANY business paying for education of health care professionals! The AMA discovered this years ago. Pharmaceutical companies would love to sponsor education about such and such a condition and interestingly enough, the answer to the “condition” is a drug they make! Who knew? The formula industry (a subset of the pharmaceutical industry) still does the same thing. Don’t you love it that the makers of Enfamil and Similac “donate” hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to your local hospital in educational trainings to your birth and postpartum health care workers! And again, interestingly enough, they recommend their prospective formula as the cure for all that ails your baby. And of course breast is best, they always say, just before the big BUT.
I’m hoping that parents will realize this conflict of interest and start to demand that the hospitals and ALL public organizations start practicing ethically. Is that too much to ask?
