Two children are hospitalized due to the "health crisis" caused by the lack of baby formula

Two children with special medical needs are hospitalized in Tennessee due, according to their doctors, to a shortage of baby formula that has thousands of families across the country on edge.

This shortage represents "a health crisis," explained pediatrician Mark Corkins, from Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where the minors are admitted.

One of them is an infant and the other is a preschooler, according to the local NBC News station.

Both suffer from an intestinal disease that requires them to be fed a special baby formula, which neither their family nor the doctors at the hospital were able to find in stores, according to the media.

 "It doesn't happen to all children," the doctor explained, "but literally the withdrawal of baby formula [due to a contamination alert] has led to these children requiring hospitalization" given the shortages that occurred as a result of that withdrawal.

The children are in stable condition, receiving intravenous fluids and nutritional support until formula is available.

Abbott to resume baby formula production at its Michigan plant to combat shortages

May 17, 202202:41

The Joe Biden administration has come under fire for formula shortages, which have worsened since the Abbott plant in Michigan closed in February.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigated the facility after four babies who drank his formula developed bacterial infections and were hospitalized.

Infections may have contributed to the deaths of two of these babies, the agency said.

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The FDA received the first report in September of a sick baby whose infection was allegedly linked to baby formula from the Sturgis plant.

A report on alleged safety lapses at the plant was published in October, but the FDA did not send inspectors to the facility until January.

Health authorities are now investigating why it took so long to send inspectors, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said Monday. 

Abbott has said it conducted a thorough review and found "no evidence" linking its formula to disease.

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May 16, 202205:18

The shortage of baby formula is a worrying puzzle for parents who must feed their babies, but it can be a matter of life and death for those children who need special feeding.

Abbott's Sturgis plant was not only one of the nation's largest suppliers of infant formula, it was also the leading manufacturer of certain

that are a lifesaver for thousands of people with rare medical conditions, including metabolic disorders. , allergic and gastrointestinal, which can make it dangerous or impossible to eat anything else.

"If this isn't fixed soon, I don't know how my son will survive," Phoebe Carter told the Politico news website, for example.

This woman is the mother of a 5-year-old boy, John, who suffers from a severe form of

, a disease of the digestive and immune systems, and is dependent on formula for nutrition.

Baby formula at a New York City Target on May 17. Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS

The partial paralysis of the Abbott plant has aggravated the shortage of baby formula in the United States since February, which also responds to other factors, according to experts, among which is the disruption in the supply chain due to the pandemic.

Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, introduced a $28 million emergency spending bill on Tuesday to deal with shortages.

This funding would increase FDA staff focused on formula shortages to increase inspections, prevent fraudulent products from reaching store shelves and acquire better market data, lawmakers said.