only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
Mead Johnson, Maker of Enfamil, Loses Multi-Million Dollar False Advertising Case Against Store-Bran
- by Marisa
- January 11, 2010
This is a sponsored guest post written by a Press Release on behalf of PBM Products. Post powered by Sponzai.
GORDONSVILLE, VA., December 2 , 2009—PBM Products, LLC, a leading infant formula company that supplies store-brand infant formulas to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, Walgreens, and other retailers, has received a favorable jury verdict and a $13.5 million damages award in its false advertising lawsuit against Mead Johnson & Co., the operating subsidiary of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) (“Mead Johnson”), the makers of the national-brand Enfamil® LIPIL® Infant Formula. Mead Johnson is 83 percent-owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
PBM’s lawsuit claimed that Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s competing store-brand of infant formulas, suggesting they do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s brands. PBM’s store-brand infant formulas cost up to 50 percent less than Enfamil® LIPIL®. The $13.5 million in damages awarded by the jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising case.
“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store-brand formula products and their products, when in fact the only major difference is price,” said PBM CEO Paul B. Manning. “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”
U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer issued his written rulings yesterday following the November 10th jury verdict. Judge Spencer’s written rulings permanently enjoined Mead Johnson from making any false statements concerning PBM’s infant formula, including the claims Mead Johnson previously made in Enfamil advertising that "It may be tempting to try a less expensive store brand, but only Enfamil LIPIL is clinically proven to improve brain and eye development," and "there are plenty of other ways to save on baby expenses without cutting back on nutrition." The Court also ordered Mead Johnson to retrieve from the public domain all advertising or promotional materials containing these or any other false claims about PBM’s store brand infant formula.
The details of the decision and the complaint are posted online in full at:
· http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/Order_Laches.pdf
· http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/PBM_Complaint_MJ_III_LIPIL.pdf
The nutritional supplements under examination in the case are two fats, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), which Mead Johnson calls “LIPIL®” solely for marketing purposes and touts as promoting infant brain and eye development. PBM’s claim focused on Mead Johnson’s direct mailing to more than 1.6 million parents of an alarming blurry picture of a child’s cartoon duck next to a clear picture of the same image which suggested that anything other than the Enfamil LIPIL® blend of ingredients is inferior and will result in poor eye and brain development. Other parts of the false advertising campaign consist of statements that only Enfamil LIPIL has been proven to confer visual and mental benefits on infants, and store-brand formulas are a “cut-back in nutrition” compared to Enfamil.
PBM successfully argued that these advertisements were false and misleading especially since PBM store- brand infant formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil. PBM infant formulas are formulated to contain DHA and ARA, and are sourced from the same supplier in amounts which equal or exceed the DHA and ARA in Mead Johnson’s Enfamil LIPIL®.
This decision marks the third time PBM Products has sued Mead Johnson for false advertising claims. On the prior occasions Mead Johnson admitted that it made false claims about PBM’s products. It is also the first false advertising case to focus on the issue of DHA and ARA nutritional ingredients in formula, which were introduced into the market in 2003 and have become a staple in recent years by many brands as key components for infant development.
“This jury verdict should send a significant and clear message to Mead Johnson about the way it conducts marketing and advertising for its brands,” said Manning. “This lawsuit also demonstrates our complete commitment to defending our products and the valuable brands of our retail partners.”
“As a parent and supporter of children’s medical research, I take a personal responsibility in assuring our customers that the products we produce are healthy and nutritionally equivalent to brand names like Enfamil® LIPIL®. It is important, especially now, for parents to know that there are lower priced yet highly nutritious store-brand formulas that will provide the same benefit to their children as any national brand name formula product,” Manning added.
The U.S. infant formula market is estimated at $3.4 billion and the global market is estimated at $7.9 billion.
All of PBM’s formulas, and for that matter all of U.S. infant formulas, are subject to the exacting standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Infant Formula Act of 1980. This legislation vested FDA with the authority to ensure that all infant formula products sold in the United States provide the necessary levels of identified nutrients required for the growth of healthy babies. For more information, visit this FDA link.
PBM Products was represented by the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Partners from the firm’s advertising practice, Harold P. Weinberger and Jonathan M. Wagner in New York, led the team.
About PBM
PBM is privately owned and based in Gordonsville, VA. PBM companies specialize in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing consumer food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products. For more information, visit www.pbmproducts.com.
Enfamil® LIPIL® are registered trademarks of Mead Johnson & Co.
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It’s been four years since our family lost our Aunt Jo. No matter how I try I cannot capture Aunt Jo as well as my sister did in this eulogy. Thank you, Monette.
Written and delivered by Monette Myers
Writing a eulogy about someone who has been intertwined in your life through every age and on a day-to-day basis, and who has 95 years worth of living, is a mammoth task. How do you do this person justice as well as all who have known her?
How do you describe the life of Aunt Jo? How do you summarize a life that spans 4, or is it 5, generations, and all it has encompassed? I can only speak from my limited perspective and experience, but I suspect the details won’t matter; it is the essence of Aunt Jo that is constant to all of us.
Aunt Jo is a family legend. No one in this family even knows of a life without Aunt Jo in it. She just always was – as far as we all are concerned. Aunt Jo is a family staple – as sure a thing as her coffee in the morning or her hot peppers in the afternoon – on anything – on pasta, in soup, in between peanut butter sandwiches…. In a word, Aunt Jo is unique.
Speaking of food, I can’t describe Aunt Jo without mentioning some of her famous kitchen concoctions – her cabbage and dough, her abundantly filled poppyseed bread, pizzelles with enough pure extract to get a notable alcohol level rating, her cabbage rolls that always had pink meat inside, homemade from scratch and real whipping cream strawberry shortcake for special occasion birthdays, and my all-time favorite – Holiday Soup, not Wedding Soup, Holiday Soup with those little square egg & cheese croutons sprinkled with “spaghetti cheese”, not Romano cheese, not Parmesan cheese, spaghetti cheese.
Aunt Jo never learned to drive and from that I think she developed an endearing affection for “the bus”. She used to love to take “the bus” into town, accompanied by any niece of any given generation. She liked talking to the bus driver, she liked getting on and off, she liked shopping – whether it was downtown at Murphy’s or at the Hub in Steubenville or on the hill at K-Mart. There was something about “the bus” that appealed to Aunt Jo. Maybe it was a sense of freedom to her, a sense of personal mobility. Maybe it was the contact with people. Maybe she just liked to ride, to see the world, to go somewhere other than where she was. Do any of us really know what Aunt Jo desired? In all my years of living with Aunt Jo and growing up watching her and trying to figure her out, it all seems to boil down to one thing – she desired to be loved and appreciated. Even when it was simply by her dogs Timmy or DoDo or any of our many cats whom she visited.
Aunt Jo had somewhat of a comedic quality that was hard to define. She reserved some observations, not suitable for repeating here, for only us kids – but they were comments that shocked us into the realization that Aunt Jo was neither innocent nor naïve. She had her own language – her “deesh” towel which was always flung over her shoulder; her “supp” hose; and the offer to guests that always evoked a questioning look, “Do you want ‘my peoples’ bread’ or Merkin bread?” (translation, Italian bread or American bread?)
As I became older, Aunt Jo became an anomaly. She was a contradiction within herself. She was all-giving, and still, she was needy. She was as hard as nails when she was determined to get something, but if met with a simple scolding word, she turned into a withdrawn mouse, which, by the way, the sight of always evoked the most amusing screaming reaction from her. She was bold in a moment and with the wisp of the wind, she could become pathetic and fragile. Living with Aunt Jo, you came to realize both her power and her vulnerability. It was Aunt Jo’s world, and we were just in it. There was no arguing with her. You might get the last word, but she got her way. She exercised a subtle control; a meek authority. Her final display of this quality was perfectly exemplified in her death. She was determined not to go to a nursing home. If she couldn’t be cared for at home to die, she wasn’t going to die in a nursing home. And with her final proof of her control over her own life, she allowed herself her own death in the hours just before her scheduled transit. Just when you thought you had her settled, she waved her magic spatula, and she upset the pots and pans and the whole menu to her own design.
But what I’ve come to realize as being the most amazing thing about Aunt Jo, probably the most puzzling aspect and the thing that links us all together through her, was that she belonged to no one, yet she belonged to everyone.
I remember at Aunt Jo’s 80th birthday party, when everyone had a chance to speak, it was Kathy who perfectly described the essence of Aunt Jo when she said – “I always thought I was Aunt Jo’s favorite, but I see that everyone believes they are Aunt Jo’s favorite.” Whomever Aunt Jo was with, whomever she was talking to – she made that person feel like they were the most important person there is. And to her, at that moment, they were.
How do you describe the life of Aunt Jo? How do you summarize a life that spans 4, or is it 5, generations, and all it has encompassed? I would describe it using an old adage – it is a life well lived, a life much loved, a life often laughed… and now, it has become a life that will be incredibly missed by 4, or is it 5 generations now?
In her way of comforting a skinned knee or a broken bone, or the sting of a divorce, or the loss of a loved one, I think I can hear how she’d comfort all “her children” and even her baby brother today…
Oh child, things are gonna get easier
Oh child, things’ll be brighter
Someday we’ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Someday, when your head is much lighter
Oh child, things are gonna get easier
Oh child, things’ll be brighter.
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It’s been just over 5 months since my son Jesse lost his best friend. At the time I couldn’t write much about it. Our family was dealing with some pretty heavy stuff and the loss of Moe just threw us all into a tailspin. Moe was so much more than my son’s friend.
Jesse and Moe were born on the very same day, one in Ohio and the other in Wyoming. Jesse and Moe met when their older brothers played baseball together, before the two of them even started kindergarten. I’m not sure Jesse has much memory of childhood before Moe. Jesse’s great Uncle Joe was married to Moe’s great Aunt Kathy. All of this added up to two best friends who were also “twin cousins.”
This day, October 6, belonged to them. It was their day.
But this bond extended beyond the two boys. Moe was as much my son as any of these kids who call me mom. And Jesse loves Moe’s mom, Connie, as his own mother. Moe was part of this family as Jesse has been a part of Moe’s family. I’m not even sure how to explain it to someone who has never had this kind of relationship. I just know that as I sit here marveling at the wonderful man my son has become, I’m crying for the “son” that we lost. My heart is breaking for Connie and Bob but also for myself, for Jess and for all of us who lost this amazing man.
Moe had a heart as big as the Wyoming sky. He was so full of life and love that I can’t even imagine this world without him in it. Even now, it just doesn’t seem possible. More than anyone else I’ve ever lost, I just can’t shake the feeling that Moe is right here, right at my kitchen counter chatting or at the shop helping the guys cut wood.
Someday I may get through this day without tears. Someday I may be able to remember Moe and not feel this aching. Someday I may understand why.
Today, I’ll just wish my boys a happy birthday.
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Once again we are going to try to get Boomer’s hair into dreadlocks. We did this last year around this time and the dreads looked great. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay in. Boomer’s hair is just so soft and pretty.
We’re going to tonight for a consultation to determine what method, if any, would work best and how much they’ll cost. He really wants these for his senior pictures. I’m not sure how my mom and mother-in-law will react to a graduation announcement with Boomer’s hair in dreadlocks but if it’s what he want’s I’m okay with it. In fact, I have no problem with dreadlocks as long as they stay in. If they come out this time, he’s on his own if he wants to try again.
Here’s a picture of his dreads last year. His hair is much longer now, down his back when it’s wet, so I’m sure it will look different this time.
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I’m not easily silenced. I tend to speak out when I have something to say, whether anyone wants to hear me or not. That, I suppose, would explain why I blog.
Explaining why I would stop blogging is a whole other story. At some point I may tell that story but not now. Not yet. The dust hasn’t quite settled and I’m still not sure what I should share.
I am coming back to blogging, slowly. Even though I can’t yet share the events of these past several months, I still have much to say. Despite all the drama around here, regular life has continued. Kids in school, a new grandchild, parents getting older… Even in the midst of upheaval, life goes on.
As I mentioned a long time ago in this blog
“It isn’t so much the ups and downs that have me in such distress; it’s the jolt that I’m never expecting. I’ve learned to close my eyes at the end of the climb and hold my breath as I plummet to the bottom. I just can’t shake the shock of being blind sided.”
This last jolt was a big one. I didn’t see it coming. It’s the kind of thing that happens to someone else’s family, not your own. Except it did happen to my family.
So now I’m going to try to be normal again. I’m going to pick up the pace and blog about the family here, favorite websites there, this crazy world way over yonder and my faith over there. And then I’ll try to finally get my new blog up and running.
For now, keep my family in your prayers. If I’ve learned anything it’s that this kind of stuff is never really over.
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Jason “Moe” Sadler (left)
October 6, 1981 – April 28, 2009
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I really don’t like to complain. I know, I have kids and a husband who would beg to differ on that point, but it’s true. Complaining is not my thing. It’s just that some things really get under my skin, you know?
For instance, I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like winter. I don’t like when it gets dark so early. I love sunshine! So during the winter, I like to leave my window blinds open enough to let in as much light as possible, for as long as possible. It helps my mood.
The problem is that someone is always following behind me, closing the blinds that I’d just opened. GRRRR! I’ve asked the family why they do it but I usually get a series of denials.
That’s right, no one shuts the blinds. They close on their own. Isn’t that just amazing? I mean, these aren’t hi-tech contraptions. They’re not even premium bamboo shades. They’re mini-blinds from Dollar General! Who knew they had a mind of their own and the ability to close at will?
Okay, I think I’m done complaining. For this week.
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I’m really trying to stick to my diet this time. I’ve messed up only a time or two so far and that’s because we’ve had extra food in the house for the upcoming holidays. I’m going to need some extra resolve and will power if I’m going to get through December.
I’m not relying on any gimmicks or special products this time. I’ve tried so many things with varying success. I did really well on the protein drinks but not eating solid food really began to get to me emotionally. I tried the alli weight loss pill for about a week but I’m not very good at remembering to take pills. Of course, I had great success with Atkins the first time but since then, I’ve had trouble making it work again.
So now I’m winging it. I’m watching my carbs, because my body just doesn’t handle carbs well. I’m trying to consume enough calories because I have a tendancy to eat too little, causing my metabolism to slow to a crawl. And I’m getting up from my computer to move around several times each day. Perhaps moving is the best part of my plan. Yeah, I think it is.
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I’ve stopped watching the financial reports on TV. Every time we hear that there’s a rise in the stock market, it’s followed by another dip. Consumer confidence is down, investors aren’t investing and everyone is waiting and watching. In the meantime, life goes on.
No matter what is happening in the world of finance, we all still have bills to pay. Utilities, mortgage or rent, car payments, insurance, food and fuel continue to eat away at our income. We can cut out the extras like movies or eating out but we can’t stop providing the necessities. And you know, when things get really tough, the government sure isn’t going to bail out a regular old citizen.
Things are tight here but we’re getting by. In fact, we’ve take steps to reduce our fuel consumption by installing a wood burning stove in our fireplace to help heat our house and reduce our need for propane this year. Still, that doesn’t mean that we’re not worried about our personal finances. I can’t help but wonder what will happen if one of our vehicles need major repairs. What if our refrigerator dies or our water heater fizzles out? With a few bad winters behind us and the currently dead construction industry, there just isn’t all that much money saved up to cover something unexpected.
I’ve read about various payday loans and frankly, I’m not comfortable with most of them. My understanding is that they’re very short term and carry extremely high interest rates. That makes me very uncomfortable. So I’ve been looking around and I’ve discovered ThinkCash, specializing in providing short term cash loans for those unexpected emergencies.
With rates 25% – 75% lower than typical payday loans, ThinkCash is a no-brainer. Why would anyone go elsewhere? Even better, these loans, which can range from $250 – $2,500, can be paid back in several installments. You can even pay the loan back early without penalty. There are no hidden fees and there’s no paperwork. The entire process happens online and the money can be deposited into your bank account the very next day.
My husband and I have never really used Credit Cards much. Our loans have always been for our home or for vehicles. Nevertheless, we’ve found ourselves needing a personal loan a few times and by the looks of this winter, that may happen again. It’s good to know that regardless of credit history, there’s someone out there willing to help the average guy get through a rough time. It’s good to know that there’s a lifesaver when we’re faced with an unexpected car repair or a miscalculation is going to cause a check to bounce.
Money is on everyone’s mind right now. We’re all trying to get through this economically rough time and just stay afloat. There are a number of ways to control our debt, reduce our spending and make it through the financially tight times. ThinkCash is one tool that might come in handy for some of us. It’s one option that I’m going to keep in mind. You should, too.
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The kids are already asking for special gifts for Christmas. Kendyll is at that age where she notices every toy advertised on TV and proclaims, “I want that” every 30 seconds. Steven is happy to play with any toy that he finds lying around and can entertain himself quietly forever. Boomer and Maggie are more selective but their gifts are much more expensive, too. Levi never knows exactly what he wants. He’ll mention one or two things but it’s like he’s not even sure.
I have a few ideas for Kendyll and Steven but I’m stumped for the other kids this year. Money is a bit tighter than years past. I can remember when each kid got a new bike, new remote control helicopters, cars or trucks, 3 or 4 video games each and more Legos than any ten kids could use in a lifetime. And Maggie always ended up with a half dozen dolls or so. My how times have changed around here!
The thing is, though, that the kids are fine with fewer gifts. Its the grown ups who expect to see more. When I’m trying to make the Christmas money stretch this year, I’m going to have to remember that.
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