Parents still struggle to find baby formula after FDA's delayed response to shortage
Cailee Yielding, Jillian Arroyo and Chris Arroyo explain how the shortage has impacted their families and criticize the 'frustrating' response from leadership.
Parents are sounding the alarm about the ongoing impact of the nationwide baby formula shortage months after the crisis began. While the FDA finally admitted to its delayed response, parents are calling for action amid continued scarcity and higher prices.
The FDA claimed staffing shortages and poor training was to blame for the late response, and the commissioner explained that the organization has little power to compel companies to "do the right thing" without intervention.
Parents, however, maintain that something should have been done sooner.
"This should have never got to the point that it is now," Cailee Yielding, a Mississippi mother of a 7-month-old, said on "Fox & Friends" Thursday.
Shelves typically stocked with baby formula sit mostly empty at a store in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. The FDA acknowledged Tuesday, September 20, that its response to the national shortage of infant formula was slowed by delays in processing a whistleblower complaint and test samples from the nation’s largest manufacturing plant. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Yielding said she regularly faces empty shelves, and, when she does find a can of formula, it costs $56 and only lasts one week.
"It is so expensive that you just can't afford to be able to feed your child," she said.
Jillian Arroyo, a Virginia resident, told Ainsley Earhardt that she is unable to find formula that meets her child’s needs, which has forced her to continue breastfeeding. She reached out to Abbott Nutrition but received no answers.
"No timeline, nothing. No information," she said.
Abbott released a statement saying the company expects specialty formulas to be more readily available in the next two to four weeks, but Arroyo remained skeptical.
"I would love to believe that," she said. "We need it. Our daughter needs it. I don’t have much faith in them right now."
Abbott said in a statement to Fox News that they're temporarily offering some products free of charge.
Arroyo said there has been no accountability for the continued delay in restocking the supply.
"They've been saying ‘in the coming weeks’ for seven months, nobody's holding them to it. There's no pressure from the FDA," she said.
"It's parents on social media. It's moms like me and Cailee that are putting the pressure on Abbott."
Chris Arroyo, father of a two-year-old, questioned what action Abbott is actually taking because shelves remain empty despite the company’s claim that there is formula available.
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"It’s very frustrating because you want to do everything you can to help your family," he said, noting that the shortage is still a very real problem.
"At the end of the day, Abbott needs to feel the pressure from our regulatory authorities as well as from the general public, because otherwise we're just going to maintain the status quo," he said.
In a statement to Fox News, Abbott acknowledged the struggle many families are facing and said some products are available free of charge.
"We know the infant formula shortage has been difficult on families and caregivers. That’s why we’ve been providing EleCare® Infant and EleCare® Jr Vanilla products free of charge to patients in the U.S. through EleCare Urgent Product Requests and we will continue that through October 25. Parents and caregivers in urgent need should contact their healthcare provider or Abbott at 1-800-881-0876 for additional information. We also have begun to ship EleCare® Infant, EleCare® Jr Vanilla and EleCare® Jr Unflavored in the U.S. to medical suppliers, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, and doctor’s offices, and expect it to be more readily available in the next two to four weeks as it works its way through distribution channels," the statement read.
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