An elemental formula created especially for infants who cannot process cow’s milk or soy milk-based products has been implicated in reports of Neocate broken bones.

Neocate baby formula uses a makeup that allows for complete breakdown into various amino acids, circumventing an allergic reaction in the infant.

In 2017, the medical journal Bone ran an article concerning a study of this elemental baby formula made by Nutricia North America. The data generated revealed a potential connection between the formula and reports of Neocate broken bones caused by low phosphates in the blood.

The study undertaken cooperatively by Yale University and the Mayo Clinic discovered that over 90 percent of infants that received their primary nutrition from Neocate baby formula had difficulty absorbing the phosphate used in the product.

Reports of Neocate broken bones as well as overall severe bone density issues, suspended growth, deformation of the skeletal system, and the development of rickets—a disease of soft and weak bones normally attributed to a vitamin D deficiency—are believed to be an outgrowth of this lack of bio-availability.

A study dated back to 2002 revealed that phosphorus and calcium are inextricable linked when it comes to the development of healthy, strong bones—one is not more important than the other. Phosphorus makes up at least 50 percent of the skeletal system and while it is needed in all stages of life, it is critical in infancy and childhood.

According to a Clarion Ledger article, Neocate broken bones were reported in a 10-year-old wheelchair-bound boy with cerebral palsy, causing his father to be suspected of child abuse.

Had it not been for a television commercial for an attorney which spoke of the study published in Bone in 2017 and witnessed by the child’s sister, the Neocate broken bones might have resulted in Robbie E.’s removal and that of his sister from the home by Child Protective Services (CPS).

In December 2017 and January 2018, Robbie E. was found to have a fractured wrist and left femur (upper leg bone) break. The broken bones were discovered following a change in Robbie’s normally happy disposition noticed by his father. His dad has been the boy’s sole caregiver in combination with nursing staff during frequent hospitalizations and school staff.

Although his father brought him to the hospital for care, he became immediately suspect as the cause of the fractures. No questions regarding diet or other potential causes of the broken bones were allegedly investigated once suspicion of abuse and a case was opened, according to the Clarion Herald.

Robbie E. had always had severe medical conditions secondary to his cerebral palsy and his sole source of nutrition had been Neocate baby formula. Although the connection between this elemental formula and the boy’s hypophosphatemia—low blood phosphorus levels—haven’t yet been proven, his bone density study also indicated a predisposition to fractures.

The father weaned his son off the formula and switched to another nutritional choice, a process he describes as similar to drug withdrawal.

The manufacturers of Neocate baby formula are experimenting with various types of phosphate that is more soluble with the hope of bringing the new and improved version to market by the pring of 2019. A spokesperson for the company says of the study that its participants were not representative of the majority—who seem to tolerate and thrive with their product.