Sick Babies Now Hospitalized as Consequence of Formula Shortage
‘I’ve never seen anything like this.’
As I have feared, sick babies are being hospitalized across the U.S. due to the formula shortage that pediatricians described as a ‘crisis’.
The Medical University of South Carolina confirmed that at least four babies have been admitted to the hospital due to the formula shortage as of Thursday night, while Dr. Mark Corkin said he’s treating two toddlers for the same issue at the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, CBS reported.
According to the hospitals, the babies were admitted due to reactions they suffered from drinking formula different from the ones they usually drank because parents could not find the product amid the shortage.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ Corkins told CBS. ‘They come in dehydrated. We give them IV fluids. We give them nutrition by vein. But that’s not a long term solution.’
The stoppage of formula production at Abbott plant has led directly to a couple of these hospitalizations, as it cut-off the supply of specialty formula essential to address the needs of pediatric health issues.
Both children have short bowel syndrome, which prevents them from absorbing nutrients properly because part of their small intestine is missing, according to Dr. Mark Corkins, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where the children were treated. Their condition requires special dietary interventions.
One of the children, who is preschool age, was hospitalized at the end of April and is still in the hospital. The other, a toddler, was hospitalized last week and has since gone home.
Each child needs an amino-acid-based formula and had been taking EleCare, a product manufactured by Abbott Nutrition, which closed its plant in Sturgis, Mich., and voluntarily recalled some of its products in February after at least four babies who consumed them were hospitalized with a rare but serious bacterial infection. Abbott reached an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration this week that enables it to resume production in the Sturgis plant in two weeks. Products from that plant may reach shelves within two months.
The rising gasoline prices is also adding an extra challenge, as parents drive for hours trying to obtain the formula they need.
…[U]p to 40 percent of all baby formula is out of stock across the country, causing parents to panic-buy or drive for hours in order to find replacements.
“Having to drive one to two hours away from your own home in hopes of finding formula for your child, then having no luck, makes you feel so guilty,” Kenzie Martin, 29, of White Plains, New York, previously told Newsweek. “I’m scared for the mothers who haven’t welcomed a baby into the world yet and are already scared of not being able to feed their infant.”
Sadly, it is not just infants that are being impacted. Older children with health problems also rely on the Abbott products.
[12-yeat old Claire] Holland has what’s known as tyrosinemia. It means that her body cannot metabolize a specific amino acid called tyrosine. To survive, she has to eat an extremely low protein diet supplemented with a special formula made by Abbott. The formula called Tyrex-2 is an amino acid modified medical food. Without it she won’t get enough vitamins and nutrients that most people would get from regular food.
Holland has been living on this formula her entire life. In February, when Abbott had to shut down its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, her formula wasn’t recalled, but it got stuck at the plant. It meant Holland had to ration how much formula she relies on every day.
Holland’s using about half of the formula she’d normally eat.
“We just wanted to try to make it last a little longer,” said her mother Shannon Holland.
Hopefully, the situation will turn around before we begin to report on formula-shortage-caused deaths.
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Comments
Umm, yeah.
We never saw shortages with Trump in office.
Release the Monkey Pox!
That isn’t exactly true, though the shortages on his watch were specifically due to COVID and everything being shut down.
Oh wait. I missed the sarcasm. It’s late, I think I need to go to sleep now before I make a bigger fool of myself.
“I did that!”
~ Joe Biden
No, Obama did that. Biden is a literal puppet.
Wait till the coming food shortages hit. You just wait.
Take them down to Del Rio, cross into Mexico, and wade back. They’ve got plenty of formula down there.
Just reported: Plane with 70,000lbs of baby formula arrives in US from Germany:
Berlin Airlift in reverse.
However, Biden said to make sure the warehouse at border had plenty before giving any of it to American babies.
6% of formula consumption. Pure window dressing.
So, should we send the plane back?
Not really if it’s used properly. The vast majority can substitute a homebrew formula. Get pediatric dietitians to update and approve the best alternative recipes for particular needs and one for general nutrition. Create YouTube vids explaining the needed components, how to mix and how to store safely.
The inbound European formula can be prioritized for those with particular dietary issues that really can’t be met effectively with a homebrew. Have Pediatricians identity which of their patients actually require the available formula. They in essence write a RX and the parent picks up at the hospital.
This sets a mild triage and halts the mob from stripping shelves because its pushed to Hospitals for distribution. It teaches parents how to make a safe and effective homebrew in the interim while the Abbott plant comes back into production.
The real question is does the Biden admin have any sort of plan? Maybe what I outlined won’t work but do the big brain experts in the Admin have an effective alternative? I doubt it. Probably not much thought went into this beyond a bunch of PR with photos of aircraft landing full of imported formula and the announcement of ‘See we did something, problem solved’.
6%? Of what? Check your math. It’s not even close to that. This is a fraction of a single day’s supply.
US uses ~100,000 TONS of formula per year. That’s ~275 TONS per day.
70k lbs is only 35 tons. This approximately .035% of yearly consumption, and only ~12% of a SINGLE DAY’S SUPPLY.
This isn’t even a ROUNDING ERROR on the yearly consumption of formula. Just idiotic crap for headlines that accomplishes nothing meaningful to help the problem.
Just like the idiotic crap of releasing oil from strategic reserve that amounted to a tiny percentage of daily consumption.
We don’t need a year’s supply.
Who knows how much we’ll need since the communist pedophile and his retarded administration shut down 40% of production for months.
Just 2 months until Abbott restarts the plant and product makes its way to consumers.
It’s a hard number to nail down, because the incompetent “news” media does such a terrible job. So I tried again.
– 20 million kids < 5 yrs old = 6 million kids < 1-1/2 years old
– 30% of mothers breast feed only = 4.2 million kids on formula
– Average 26 oz per day per kid = 109 million ounces/day
– Looks like Biden's importing a total of 24 million ounces = 22% of a day's consumption
– Therefore, it's less than 6%.
I got to 6% a few days ago. Sorry, I don't recall how. I should have saved it. All I can say is that I don't make up numbers. The media are largely innumerate, and a lot lazier than I am. I have very little doubt that I based that 6% on a media-reported number of formula volume that this or that outlet "reported."
Now you have me curious, so I will pay closer attention. I can't tell you how much I hate getting a fact wrong. Certainly no intent on my part.
For what it’s worth, there’s a whole lot I don’t know about baby formula. This little challenge to my numbers brought that up in my mind. I’m childless, which puts me at a distinct disadvantage. I gather that there isn’t a “baby formula” market any more than, say, there’s a “cheese market” — meaning that those markets are aggregations of sub-markets.
I have no doubt that I could get to the right numbers if I spent enough time, but I don’t think it’s worth it to dive that deep. How about I say that Xiden’s “airlift,” besides being an international embarrament, looks like a drop in the proverbial bucket?
CommoChief, no hostility whatsoever to your challenge. I’m one of the less-defensive people on the internet. If I give incorrect numbers, I’m perfectly fine with admitting that. Also fine with admitting that there’s a lot I don’t know. More people ought to do that, IMO.
Gentle Grizz, what a stupid question. Are yoiu always that idiotic, or do you save it up for here? What, to point out that it’s little but a photo op is the same as wanting to send it back? What other words do you put in people’s mouths?
Oops, no hostility, Olinser. Got that one wrong too. LOL
Oh yeah, no worries, but whenever talking in percentages, it’s always important to specify percentage of WHAT.
A lot of liars (on both sides, although Democrats far more than Republicans) like to give a number without context and act like its some big deal, but when you dig into the actual numbers, then its actually not even a blip.
I really did make a good faith effort. It would be hard to exaggerate my disdain for people who make shit up. The “progressives” are masters at it, but it happens among the wingers too. Whenever I see it, I call it out. I wish I could specify the numbers that led me to that 6% that I used.
I can tell you that I triple-checked the arithmetic, plus I did separate research on how long babies are on formula and how much of it they consume, and what percentage of babies are totally breast fed. But damn it, I cannot recall the source of the total amount of formula that Xiden’s bringing in.
Trust me, I beat myself up about errors like that more than anyone else ever does. So Xiden’s bringing in (from the last stories I read) a total (including what’s to come) of 22% of one day’s consumption. That’s a whole lot less than 6% of total consumption for the amount of time this exercise in incompetence and international embarrassment will last.
Not that it will matter to the media. They’ll declare it a success, and Big Tech will censor any criticism.
Only enough for 2 pallets per state will go to hospitals
“Just reported: Plane with 70,000lbs of baby formula arrives in US from Germany….”
Whoa – that’s wrong. It turns out it was a plane with Stacy Abrams aboard.
I’m noticing a lot of catty comments about Abrams and her weight, here and in other threads.
We get it. You don’t like her nor do many of the rest of us. But enough on her obesity already. It sounds catty and vicious. Or, are you still in high school?
Let’s look at the issue from another vantage. Abrams is a candidate for Gov. If elected she will become the ‘face’ of Georgia. She will be in a position of greater influence than she is today. Abrams is heavy, from photos and video it appears she is obese. Obesity magnifies other health issues, particularly any illness that causes additional stress on the heart and lungs. Covid deaths and hospitalizations are correlated with the obese.
Many of us view obesity as an issue of personal discipline. If someone refuses to apply self control to modify their diet and perform exercise to maintain a more healthy weight why would we put the same undisciplined person into a position of wider authority?
It may be that Abrams suffers from one of the rare medical conditions that make it difficult to impossible to shed weight. If so she should disclose her medical condition so that the voters have full facts before electing someone with serious medical issues and the heath complications arising from it.
Abrams weight will continue to be a legitimate issue until she chooses to reassure the public that she has no elevated health risks by disclosing her medical records. If the example of Biden shows us anything it is that the public should never again accept reassurances about the physical condition of a candidate when we see a problem and the campaign refuses to release medical records.
She’s a tub of lard and stupid too. We’re Americans, and Americans do have a habit of calling things by their real names. Looks like Lady Sumo just stepped into it in Georgia, where she’s running for governor and owns two houses, but called the state the worst place to live.
I guess she’ll have to go to New Orleans the next time she wants to scarf down an entire pecan pie, then?
That’s good. They were worried about that they might see a shortage at the border.
And Biden’s “81 million voters” still view him favorably.
Sick babies are good for the women’s vote.
I, for one, don’t care as long as MS13 moms have fat, happy babies.
How about you?
Baby-wise, the Democrats have one goal: abort them.
Population Control (PC) through normalization of dysfunctional behaviors and the wicked solution. Keep women, and your little girl, too, appointed, available, and taxable.
Up until the age of two. That’s been the proposed cut-off for some years among the radical, now “centrist,” left.
You could do a service by examining abortion laws in the bluest states and how they might have changed. The comment section varies, but I have maximum respect for the rigor of the actual posts here. Specifically, I’d like to know about the law in the following states: NY, MA, CA, NM, OR, IL, and WA.
I have read that some of those states have effectively legalized infanticide. I would like to know how true that is, and without hyperbole or exaggeration. I have always been pretty liberal about abortion and would still be to the left of many conservatives, but in no way, shape, or form do I support abortion on demand until the day of birth or thereafter (?!)
I am looking for accurate information, and LI is a trusted source. No need to gild the lily. Just play it straight. I want to know what these laws say.
Oh, and CO. I understand that they changed their law, and that some people say it authorizes infanticide. To me, late-term abortions should be reserved strictly for situations where the mother’s life is in jeopardy if she carries the baby to term. Infanticide is more deeply disturbing than my words can capture.
That said, if you or someone else at LI embarks upon a review of the laws: Please, please, please be rigorous about it. I make a bright-line distinction among websites: How do they treat facts and logic? The coverage of the Oberlin hijinks brought me here, and the high quality of other posts keeps me here. So do your best Joe Friday and stick close to the facts, and logic emanating from them.
Thanks much, and keep up the great work here.
Politicians across the country are defending regulatory rites.
The manufacturers failed to prove a negative. Abort them. Abort them all. NOW.
Meanwhile, there are off-market formulas since forever.
The children mentioned in the article didn’t just need formula; they needed a special type of formula. Not being able to obtain it has everything to do with the over-reaction that shut the manufacturing facility down.
My days use to get a goat based formula, organic from holland for her daughter. She couldn’t produce milk because she had a breast reduction and God did she try. It was like a sitcom with the electric pumps, actually saw something on “Girls” on hbo and laughed my butt off.
Wasn’t so funny in true life but, he baby couldn’t tolerate any of the formulas including all prescribed
The organic goat milk did it, from a foreign country
Very expensive but worth all the money
Daughter not days, hate autocorrect
As a point of curiosity, what was wrong with domestic goats?
The child needed metric milk, not customary.
It’s not the over-reaction of shutting it down. It’s refusing to allow it to open back up months later after they’ve proved the issue never came from the plant in the first place.
From a CO of Naval Hospital Balboa, San Diego, California.
“This morning I went to the Commissary at the Naval Station, San Diego. The shelves where infant formula is normally stocked were bare.
When I began my pediatric residency in 1969 at Navy Hospital, San Diego, there were women who made the formula for all of our newborns from evaporated milk, water and Karo syrup. The formula was simple, a 13 ounce can of evaporated milk, 17 ounces of water and 2 tablespoons of Karo syrup. These same women also taught moms who didn’t plan to breast feed how to make formula safely and cheaply at home.
A few years later the two U.S. major manufacturers of infant formula (Mead Johnson (Enfamil) and Abbott (Similac) convinced the command to stock their products and get rid of the women who for years had been making formula and teaching mom’s how to do it safely and cheaply at home. The two companies shared the contract to supply the hospital with formula. This cozy relationship continued for over half a Century.
You know the rest of the story……….
Yes, but that infection wasn’t caused by Abbot’s product, it was caused by the parents not properly preparing the formula, not that you’d know that from the media coverage. More to the point, the factory shouldn’t have been shut down for 3 going on 4 months. I can’t imagine disinfection taking more than a week, and the inspectors should have been ready and on-call to approve re-opening.
They are making so much money with the Covid testing kits they just plum forgot to make baby formula!
Turns out that I and my other half came down with the ‘rona late last week. Triple Pfizerized. Feels like a bad cold. No fun this past weekend, but we’re quickly recovering from what could be compared to a pretty nasty head cold. I had ordered Xiden’s “free” Chinese-made test kits, and they confirmed that it was the ‘rona. We’d originally thought it was just spring pollen, until it became more than just hayfever.
Special place in Hell for those purposely doing this. But first they should be drawn and quartered then have their entrails burned. After, sprinkle salt over the carbon pile for good measure. Evil comes in many forms.
Informal survey in NY. Both drugstores in town (CVS and Walgreens) perpetually sold out except for a few stray bottles of pre-mixed. Local grocery seems to get deliveries that are sold out in a couple of days…full one day then gone, then back, then gone