The baby formula shortage is affecting more than just babies. A mother from Wilmette whose four-and-a-half-year-old child depends on it for his rare genetic disorder said her community is desperate.
“There’s just not a lot of options for us, so it’s pretty dire,” Kimberly Endrizzi said.
Endrizzi’s son, Greyson, was born with a disease called PKU, a metabolic disorder that doesn’t allow his body to break down specific amino acids. In Greyson’s case, he’s been on a protein-restricted diet since he was born.
“He would need to take this special medical formula for the rest of his life,” Endrizzi said. “It’s composed of all the nutrients and proteins he can’t receive from foods.”
That formula, though, has been on backorder for months, like the rest of the supply.
“I think the FDA really dropped the ball on this,” Endrizzi said.
She said without the formula, neurotoxins build up in her son’s brain. Long term, Endrizzi said it could be a permanent disability. “We have watched this happen,” wrote Endrizzi in a Facebook post. “We have watched our funny and energetic boy turn into a sad, angry and confused shell of himself. Our community is desperate.”
In the U.S., about one in every 10,000 babies are born with PKU each year.
For Endrizzi, it’s now just a waiting game.
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