The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took more than a year to respond to a whistleblower report about an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan that became the epicenter of a nationwide infant formula shortage, reports the Associated Press. reportCiting the new audit.
The report states:
The Department of Labor received the email and forwarded it three days later to an FDA address dedicated to such complaints, but one of several employees responsible for managing the FDA’s inbox at the time “inadvertently archived” it in February 2021, and the email was never found until a reporter requested it in June 2022.
The debacle led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to conclude in a report on Thursday that the FDA’s response to the situation at the Abbott plant was inadequate.
While the FDA took some steps and conducted inspections, “more could have been done before leading up to the recall of Abbott’s infant formula,” the auditors wrote. The report concluded that the FDA needs to develop a more comprehensive policy on escalating the status of complaints to senior management to ensure more rapid response.
“The bottom line is that going forward, the FDA should do better and the American people should expect better,” Assistant Inspector General Carla Lewis said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Breitbart News editor-in-chief and best-selling author Alex Marlow writes: Defeat BidenBy June 2022, the FDA reported that nine infants had died after consuming formula made at that particular facility, but Abbott denied any link between the infected infants and contaminants. The FDA ultimately shut down the plant for several months, beginning in February 2022, and recalled several lots of formula that contained Similac, Elecare, and Alimentum.
“FDA inspectors ultimately found numerous violations at the plant, including bacterial contamination, a leaking roof and poor safety practices, but the agency could not find a direct link between the infections and the formula,” the Associated Press reported.
The HHS report also details how the FDA took 102 days to actually inspect the plant after receiving another whistle-blower complaint in October 2021. The two complaints alleged illnesses and deaths in infants who drank formula made at the Michigan plant, but samples of the formula allegedly did not contain Cronobacter, a bacteria linked to infant illnesses.
The FDA said in a statement to The Associated Press that the agency agrees with the report’s conclusion that stricter protocols are needed. The FDA’s own 2022 report appeared to acknowledge that its response to the crisis was slowed by whistleblower complaints and problems processing factory test samples in a timely manner.
“It is important to note that the OIG’s assessment represents a point in time and the FDA continues to make progress,” an FDA spokesperson said.
The spokesperson further said the agency “The cadre of Critical Foods Inspectors will be dedicated to the inspection and oversight of the infant formula (and other critical foods) industry.”
For more information on Marlowe, Defeat Biden How the Biden Administration’s overall response (not just the FDA’s actions) was inadequate and delayed to the infant formula crisis.
“Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said he was aware of this potential crisis months before it became public and pressured the FDA commissioner to no avail,” Marlow wrote.
He continued:
Weeks after the shortages became headline news across the country in May 2022, Republicans said the Biden administration had yet to offer a plan to resolve the ongoing problems. Biden didn’t meet with infant formula manufacturers to seek corrections to the supply until June, weeks after panic had spread to many households.
And as many Americans struggle to breastfeed their newborns, news outlets have reported footage of the government sending pallets of formula to the Mexican border “to feed infants who had been brought into the country illegally,” Marlowe wrote.
He also Defeat Biden:
The baby formula scandal was a total failure of the Biden administration. It ignored whistleblower warnings until it was too late, and bureaucratic red tape was insufficient to keep babies safe. In fact, baby formula recalls due to bacterial contamination continued into 2022 and 2023. Rapidly increasing production and importing stock from overseas also proved to be a Herculean task.
“Biden, always the big government oligarch, has tried to solve this problem through state punishment,” he continued.
This crisis is less about Abbott or the FDA and more about Joe Biden, who failed to prepare for the shortages and failed to solve them. As has been the pattern, the Biden Administration has responded to below-expected production with threats. Not enough oil? More taxes coming! Is the port congested? Fines will be imposed. Missing prescriptions? Let’s conduct a criminal investigation! Meanwhile, American children and their families were struggling to feed their babies as if they were living in the third world.
Marlow noted that while one deputy commissioner has resigned, the FDA has not fired anyone over the gaffe.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X. Follow.
