Why Did It Take The White House So Long to Deal With The Infant Formula Crisis?

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Joe Biden is lucky that the American media is willing and able to protect him from the consequences of his incompetent leadership.

Biden didn’t do it. Maybe the crisis of infant formula shortages was already inevitable. Both the timeline of the FDA’s response and the Biden administration’s handling of it make it clear that there was no need to panic and that the White House has delayed its response.

First, some great news. In order to address the shortage, the FDA, the nation’s largest manufacturer of infant formulas, has agreed that the Sturgis, Mich. facility will reopen. The plant closure was the proximate cause of the shortage because it supplied both regular and specialty formulas for the American consumer.

Last February production stopped after a rare bacteria, was believed to have infected at least four infants and the FDA identified the Sturgis plant as the point of origin. Abbott strongly denied that the bacteria was a result of their Sturgis facility.

The FDA had previously cited the Sturgis facility for violations. Last autumn, the FDA received a report from a whistleblower detailing sanitation problems at Sturgis.

ABC News: Food and Drug Administration inspection reports and a 34-page whistleblower report from an ex-employee at Abbott Laboratories indicate that the FDA first became aware of potential sanitation problems at the Abbott facility at Sturgis (Michigan). In February, Abbott issued a voluntary recall after discovering deadly bacteria. This dramatic action resulted in the recall of a significant portion of the nation’s supply.

Even months later, concerns remain about the safety of the facility. Families are scrambling to get formula.

The company claimed that they were confident that they can continue making safe, high-quality infant formula in their facilities. In September 2013, the FDA inspected the facility and found no violations.

Abbott was accused by a whistleblower that he had concealed violations from FDA in October.

On February 1, 2022: The FDA takes samples at the plant to confirm the presence of dangerous Cronobacter bacteria. An inspection report by the FDA also lists several violations.

Start the clock. The FDA knew on the first day of February that there were going to be significant shortages of infant formula on the horizon. The conclusion was unavoidable given the heavy reliance on Abbott for most of the specialty formulas manufactured in the U.S. And yet it wasn’t until last week that the Biden administration went into crisis mode and revved up the PR machine.

But it was too late. Biden had no choice but to make a run for it and offer several solutions. None of them would be able to get a formula package onto the shelves.

Why was it so slow in entering crisis mode, even though the FDA knew about the imminent shortage? What’s the point of raising alarms earlier?

When the crisis is over, these and other questions will also be asked by certain congressional committees as well as FDA and the White House.