TUNKHANNOCK, Pa. — The food company Abbott announced last week it is recalling some brands of baby formula, including brands made for babies on specialized diets.
Kathleen Brotzman of Tunkhannock and baby Lucy have been on quite a ride in Lucy's short life. She's only two months old, and her parents have already tried several types of formula in hopes of controlling her reflux.
Kathleen says that's enough to worry about, but she can add supply shortages at stores and now a recall of some popular specialized formulas to the mix.
"It's very consuming too, especially with the recalled formula as well. All of the symptoms that Lucy was having was kind of consistent with the recalled formula and the symptoms of food-borne illnesses."
Kathleen says Lucy will be tested to see if she had a reaction to any of the recalled formulas she tried.
"I found all of her cans because we were going to recycle them, and I was going through can after can after can and typing in each number and seeing that it was recalled. I was basically furious over it."
She's now found a brand that works for baby Lucy, and she's able to get it online. But Kathleen worries about other parents who will now struggle to find something else that works.
Many of those parents are calling their pediatricians looking for guidance.
Dr. Paul Tomcykoski is easing parents' worries at his practice in Jessup. The recalled specialized brands have alternatives made by other manufacturers.
"We're hoping that Similac gets it all squared away and refills our products, but in the meantime, for example, we have kids that are on specialized formulas like Alimentum, we'll tell them to go to Nutramigen, or Pregestimil, or another predigested formula," Dr. Paul Tomcykoski explained.
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