This page is dedicated to our daughter Emily Susannah. She is a bright, wonderful 14 month old baby with a story to tell.Emily was diagnosed with failure-to-thrive around 6 months of age. About this same time, I realized that she was not tolerating baby cereals, fruits or vegetables. These foods caused her pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss. After a bout with rotavirus and a failed 2 month trial of Pregestimil infant formula, Emily's pediatric gastroenterologist prescribed Neocate infant formula.
Neocate is a highly specialized infant formula that is hypoallergenic and amino-acid based. It provides complete nutrition for babies with severe food allergies and multiple intolerances to food proteins. It is sold only by pharmacies and must be used under the supervision of a physician.
I remember the day that Emily started Neocate very well. She had been in the hospital for five days due to rotavirus, and she was still very sick. That awful morning she weighed just under 12 pounds--she was 10 months old. We began to give her the Neocate very slowly, and in combination with IV fluids, Emily literally bounced back overnight. She was released the following evening, and since that day, the Neocate has lived up to its nickname, "Liquid Gold" in our household. Neocate helped Emily to begin growing and gaining weight!
However, a few weeks after we began Neocate, Emily had what I thought was a relapse of rotavirus. She was in obvious pain with vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss again. I remember sitting with her in our pediatrician’s office waiting to be seen when I began to wonder about the recent change in the label on the Neocate Infant cans. The formula in the new “gold” labeled cans looked and smelled different. When I called 1-800-NEOCATE, I was assured that the differences in the two formulations were minimal and that the main change was the emulsifier. At that time, I was able to find more of the yellow cans of Neocate that I was accustomed to using, and I stopped using the gold-labeled cans entirely. Emily’s pain and GI symptoms went away completely. I tried a gold labeled can again later, and even diluted with the old formulation, Emily’s symptoms returned.
The manufacturers are no longer making the version of Neocate that Emily needs. We are pursuing other formulations, but we are not having any success. There are very few cans of the original formulation left anywhere, and we are running out of time due to this shortage. Until we know what is causing Emily's issues, we need a steady supply of the orignial Neocate, as this is her sole source of nutrition. Emily is not the only baby having issues with the new formulation of Neocate. The company is aware of this, and they are suggesting other products from their line as a substitute, but these are not nutritionally equivalent to Neocate Infant. As a last resort, we have tried these other products with no success.
We are asking the manufacturers of Neocate Infant Formula, Nutricia North America (formerly SHS North America), to produce this very special formula once again. We need your help to make this happen. The link below will give you the Nutricia website with the manufacturer's mailing address and email address. In your letters and emails, please ask them to bring back the original formulation of Neocate "For The Babies' Sake." Thank you
http://www.shsna.com/pages/contact_us.htm
