WATCH: FDA Commissioner Lays Out Formula Timeline — Says Supply Will Improve In Days
Across the U.S., worried parents are trying to figure out how to feed their children as the formula crisis continues. Now the FDA Commissioner says that the measures in place will improve things in the next few days, at least for some parents.
As previously reported, steps are underway to address the national shortage. These include an agreement to reopen the plant that closed after two infants died. The Gazette reports that cronobacter, which was deemed the cause of death, was found in the Abbott factory previously, including in a batch of formula, although that batch was not distributed. However, even as the factory meets the sanitary requirements to re-open, building the supply back up for distribution isn’t an instant thing, and it will take a while before production is back to normal.
In the meantime, President Biden and Congress are working on measures to increase production at other plants, and import necessary supplies. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf says we will start seeing the impact of these measures in the next few days.
FDA Commissioner @DrCaliff_FDA on baby formula supply: "Within days it will get better but it will be a few weeks before we're back to normal." pic.twitter.com/2moA1US6J4
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 19, 2022
It will still be weeks before things get back to normal, and Dr. Califf says that some areas may not see improvement as quickly as others, but it shouldn’t be too long before things begin to improve.
In the meantime, Abbott has been permitted on a case-by-case basis, the FDA says, to release products “to individuals needing urgent, life-sustaining supplies of certain specialty and metabolic formulas…in consultation with their healthcare providers.
The FDA, pediatricians, and other experts have been pleading with parents not to try to make their own formula at home, but to consult with their healthcare providers to determine whether substituting a different formula, starting cows milk or a toddler formula, or some other option is best for their individual child.
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