Formula isn’t just for babies. April Crohare desperately needs it for her 14-year-old son, Charlie. Due to medical complications from a rare brain disorder called lissencephaly, his only source of nutrition comes from infant formula through a feeding tube.
The Crohares, who live in Maryland, had relied on Abbott Laboratories’ hypoallergenic brand EleCare to feed Charlie for almost half his life until the specialty formula was pulled off shelves in a February recall linked to bacterial contamination at Abbott’s Sturgis, Michigan, facility. She’s been frantically searching for it — or another product her son can digest without getting sick — ever since.
“This was the first time I’ve thought my kid was going to die because we can’t get formula, not because of all of his other medical issues,” Crohare said.
