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Originally Posted by SunnieP  I don't pretend to know your dad, whom I'm sure is as saintly as you say. If I meant all doctors were all money grubbers I would have articulated such. There is, however a conflict of interest in that the sicker you are the more they stand to make and that cannot be disputed. Agan, it was just a thought as to why a supposed healer of babies would post a sign, if a cardiologist gave me free big macks, I may question his integrity as well.
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I don't think my dad is saintly. I think he is subject to the same influences and education as virtually all doctors in the US--which is to say, he tends to go to pharmacological options first, he knows absolutely nothing about nutrition and its relationship to health, and he knows little about (and is generally skeptical of) alternative, non-interventive treatments. On the hand, I know that his heart is in the right place--that he genuinely believes he is helping people and that, in many cases, he actually does.
I don't think pediatricians need to keep kids sick. Most ped practices in my area are full to bursting. Getting an appointment with a specialist can take weeks. The vax schedule ensures plenty of visits and the culture of dependence on doctors/intervention means that many parents will call up when their child has any little sniffle or rash (I know people like this). If peds were so hell-bent on doing things that make kids sick to improve their own revenue, why would they so regularly kick out people who don't vaccinate--since they believe that these children are more likely to get sick (since vaxes work so well) and possibly make other children sick, wouldn't it be in their best interest, in your formulation, to keep them around?
Pediatricians get vritually no education on breastfeeding--a few hours in med school, at best, most of which focuses on the composition of breastmilk. OTOH, they are sytematically indoctrinated by formula companies. Do you really believe the OP's ped is sitting around saying, "Ooh--Similac gave us all this formula! Let's advertise free cans, so that we can undermine breastfeeding relationships and get babies sicker!" Formula is what they KNOW. The doc probably think he's doing the parents in his practice--many (most?) of whom--probably ff, a favor. I agree that it's wrong, that it should be brought to his attention. But I think it's both naive and offensive to suggest that pediatricians are actually out to harm kids so that they can take nice vacations. They're indoctrinated. They're subject to peer pressure. Breaking from the conventional wisdom requires a complete paradigm shift that calls into question their whole profession. It's not as easy to make that leap as you'd like to think.
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