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Out of stock: Families, experts weigh in on baby formula shortage

Kokomo Tribune - 5/27/2022

May 27—Two-year-old Barron Odom is a typical toddler.

He loves being adventurous outdoors, playing soccer and hanging out with his parents and twin brother, Lennox.

But like thousands of other children with gastro-intestinal issues, Barron gets his nutrition via a G-tube.

Born at 27 weeks and having spent the first several months of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit, Barron has struggled with his eating since birth, said his mother, Morgan.

The boy's daily nutrition comes from Neocate Jr., an amino acid-based prescription formula supplied by the CVS Health specialty infusion service, Coram.

The formula is expensive — over $1,000 per month — and Barron can easily go through 16 cans in that timespan.

And now there's an even bigger crisis, Morgan noted.

The formula is mostly on backorder.

Of course, the Odoms aren't alone in their struggles to find the formula they need for their son.

People across the U.S. are all in the same boat, traveling from store to store in search of baby formula, only to be met with rows of empty shelves.

And regardless of why the situation has escalated to this point or how quickly it can be fixed, Morgan admitted that kids are the ones paying the ultimate price right now.

"It's so scary," she said. "That's the only thing really keeping him going every day. He can't chew or swallow, so if he doesn't get this (formula), he goes to the hospital. ... It's like our backs are against the wall."

And with parenthood already being hard enough, the lack of immediate access to Barron's formula is one more added stressor for Morgan and her husband, Shaun.

"It's heartbreaking," Morgan admitted. "I recently spent all day long trying to reach out to my resources to see if they had extra cans. ... It's just a really scary place to be right now. ... And I did talk to this one mom online, she gave us 17 cans because her son switched to a different formula. I can't be more grateful. That's a month's worth. So at least for now, I can breathe for a month."

HOW WE GOT HERE

Supply issues. Illnesses. A voluntary recall. A complete shutdown.

There are many reasons, experts note, as to what led to the chaos that is happening today regarding the baby formula shortage.

According to information provided by the Food and Drug Administration and obtained by ABC News earlier this month, Abbott Nutrition — a baby formula manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan — showed warning signs for potential problems as far back as last fall.

In a 34-page whistleblower report from a former Abbott employee, officials were supposedly made aware of suspected sanitation and operational issues, per the FDA's report.

And then came February 2022.

That's when four babies who were fed powdered formula from Abbott developed rare bacterial infections.

Two of the infants later died.

After a sweeping search of the manufacturing plant, the FDA released its findings in March, indicating that there were traces of a bacteria called Cronobacter on several surfaces throughout Abbott, though the FDA said it's still unclear whether the bacteria played a role in the infants' illnesses.

Nevertheless, Abbott announced Feb. 17 that it was recalling three powdered infant formulas from their plant in Sturgis.

Abbott took it one step further and announced a complete shutdown of the plant that same month, which halted production of all its baby formula brands such as Similac and EleCare.

And with the supply halted but the demand still high, it ultimately created a perfect storm.

FEELING THE EFFECTS

In the weeks following the Abbott shutdown, the nation's baby formula supply has hit dire straits, with some states seeing up to 50% of its top-selling products out of stock.

The effects of the formula shortage are being seen everywhere these days.

In southeastern Washington state, for instance, a father named Mac Jaehnert told CNN that he drove around 1,000 miles in one week just to find baby formula for his premature daughter.

Others are resorting to websites such as Facebook Marketplace, where anxious parents find other parents willing to sell or donate formula or breastmilk to help alleviate some of the stress.

And for one group in particular, the formula shortage is hitting especially hard.

Lora Burke-Mulkey is the program manager for the Howard County WIC program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-run program which helps women, infants and children.

There are income and nutrition risk requirements to be eligible for WIC, and Howard County's clinic runs what Burke-Mulkey calls a cost containment program, which means everyone who is eligible for WIC can be helped.

In order to do the cost containment program, Burke-Mulkey said the WIC program negotiates a contract with a company, and they are then given a large rebate in return.

Along with Howard, Burke-Mulkey also oversees the program in six other counties — Tipton, Cass, Grant, Hamilton, Clinton and Fulton — assisting approximately 11,000 to 12,000 individuals.

Around 30% of WIC's clients are infants, Burke-Mulkey noted.

Because of the cost containment program, WIC typically is only able to purchase a certain type of baby formula for its clients, along with a certain sized can.

And though the government has since come out with waivers for WIC, meaning clients can now purchase a wider variety of formulas, the shortage has still hit the organization hard, Burke-Mulkey admitted.

"Our hearts break, and there's nothing we can do," she said. "Our hands are tied. It makes me want to cry every time I talk about it. Moms are calling and want formula, and there's really no great solution we can offer. It's hard."

Burke-Mulkey added that WIC's own formula shortage is compounded by the fact that other people who need formula but aren't involved in WIC are grabbing up the supply that would normally be there for WIC's clients.

"We have Gerber products," she said. "If parents who don't necessarily use Gerber products can't find their formulas, they'll still just go ahead and get Gerber. ... It's just a desperate situation right now for a lot of parents. ... It's not like if you're short of things in the pantry, so you just scramble around to find something else to whip up. ... If your kid needs formula, you need formula. That's simply it."

Relief appears to be in sight, prompted by the FDA's agreement with Abbott to reopen the Sturgis plant; President Joe Biden's invocation of the Federal Defense Act to boost baby formula production; and emergency imports of formula from overseas. However, officials still expect it could be up to eight weeks before a real dent is made in the progress.

NAVIGATING THE DOS AND DON'TS

Until then, health experts continue to stress patience, even though that patience is often challenging.

Dr. Laura Stage is a physician at Community Physician Network at North Central Indiana Pediatrics, and she noted that she's seen an escalation in panicked parents specifically over the course of the last two weeks.

"Most of the parents I've talked to have mainly asked what other alternates they can use or buy," Stage said. "... I think as parents, one of our biggest biological drives is feed your child, feed your child, feed your child. That's what we think about. Make sure they're growing and getting enough nutrition. ... So I'm sure that having this formula shortage is a horrible stress and strain for these families.

"When you look at families that are already food insecure, it's even worse," she added. "They're having to drive from store to store to find formula they need, and they end up having to drive to more when they can't find it. Then you add on gas at $4.50 a gallon, and it's just a nightmare."

And if you can't find the specific formula you need, Stage said store brands like the ones sold at Meijer or Walmart are just as healthy and effective as any other name-brand formula.

You can also contact your pediatrician's office, Stage noted, because they oftentimes can provide sample cans or know of other ways to get the formula.

"But whatever you do, don't water down the formula to make it last longer," Stage said. "That can cause a lot of issues to the electrolytes in the blood, as well as providing not enough nutrition. So not only will they not grow, but they will also have dangerous drops in their blood sodium levels, which can lead to things like seizures."

Stage noted that parents should also not try to create their own baby formulas from recipes they see on the internet, citing the unhealthy caloric and protein intake in such formulas.

Stage also admitted that while it's tempting to supply your child with cow milk, that's not always a healthy option either.

"We usually recommend that at a year," she said. "The reason is that if children drink cow milk prior to that, it increases their risk of developing anemia. Cow milk can cause a little bit of low-level inflammation to the intestines, which causes kids to lose a little bit of microscopic blood. Over time, that can add up.

"And it's also not iron fortified," Stage added. "Formulas are, as they have extra iron added to them. ... Now the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) did recently come out with a recommendation that if you can't find any formula, and your baby is eight months or older, you could use whole milk and iron drops for a couple days or a week to bridge you over. But that's a last-ditch option."

Using other products such as plant-based milk — with cashews or almonds — is also not a long-term safe option, Stage noted, as they do not contain the right number of calories or proteins that a baby might need.

PARENTS HELPING PARENTS

While Stage said that she tells parents or guardians to be cautious about finding formula they need from communities such as those on social media because parents might not know exactly where the product is coming from, she did admit that it warms her heart to see so many individuals come together in such a time of need.

One of those individuals is Kokomo resident Hailey Alexander.

A mother of three, Alexander delivered her youngest daughter at 26 weeks, and she said she had to pump breast milk while in the hospital to keep her milk supply up.

"I was very fortunate to have a great supply," she said, "probably an oversupply really. It's coming out of our ears I feel like. So, we ended up having to buy three deep freezers just to be able to hold my milk. ... We already donated to a baby in need in January or February, and I recently saw a couple posts of moms saying they were looking for donor milk because they were struggling to find formula. So, I've been able to do that, and I know they've been very appreciative."

Alexander said that she also knows it's an unnerving time for parents, so she hopes she can give them a little bit of calm in the midst of the chaos.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child," she said. "And the fact that there are so many people out there willing to help just proves that. It's easy to get wrapped up in all the bad things right now, and people say they've lost faith in humanity. But then you see people come together for these kiddos, it makes you smile."

Kim Dunlap can be reached at 765-860-3256 or at kim.dunlap@kokomotribune.com.

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