Democrats Want $28 Million To Boost Baby Formula Supplies
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Energy and Commerce Committee will seek answers from executives of Abbott Nutrition and other formula makers as to why the U.S. is experiencing such a crippling shortage. Lawmakers have warned criminal charges may be in play.
AP:
House Dems Propose $28 Million To Address Formula Shortage
House Democrats unveiled a $28 million emergency spending bill Tuesday to address the shortage of infant formula in the United States. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the money would increase Food and Drug Administration staffing to boost inspections of domestic and international suppliers, prevent fraudulent products from getting onto store shelves and acquire better data on the marketplace. (Freking, 5/17)
Bloomberg:
Baby Formula Shortage: Executives To Face House As Pelosi Warns Of Charges
Executives from Abbott Nutrition and other major formula companies have agreed to testify May 25 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the root causes of the nationwide formula shortage. Abbott, which has been at the center of the firestorm over the shortages due to a contamination-driven shutdown of its main facility in Michigan after the deaths of two babies, will be represented by Senior Vice President Christopher Calamari. (Wasson, 5/17)
The New York Times:
2 Children Have Been Hospitalized Because Of Formula Shortage
Two children in Tennessee were recently hospitalized because their families could not find the specific formula they need during a nationwide shortage that has grown more acute over the past month, sending parents frantically searching for interim solutions. Both children have short bowel syndrome, which prevents them from absorbing nutrients properly because part of their small intestine is missing, according to Dr. Mark Corkins, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where the children were treated. Their condition requires special dietary interventions. (Morris, 5/17)
The Hill:
Pelosi Floats Indictments For Baby Formula Deaths As Democrats Unveil Emergency Funding
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Tuesday suggested there could be indictments for the people found to be responsible for the deaths of two infants who consumed baby formula that may have been contaminated. Speaking at a press conference to unveil Democrats’ $28 million aid bill to help put formula back on store shelves, Pelosi said the possibility that contaminated formula killed at least two babies is “sinful.” (Weixel, 5/17)
The Hill:
Former FDA Official Says Parents Should Have Been Warned Sooner Of Baby Formula Shortage
A former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) associate commissioner on Monday said the federal government should have warned parents sooner of a coming baby formula shortage after it shut down a major production plant in Michigan. Peter Pitts told Hill.TV the FDA did the right thing in shutting down the Abbott Nutrition plant in February, saying safety is always paramount. But the FDA failed to adequately prepare the public for the shutdown, he added. (Dress, 5/17)
CBS News:
Mayorkas Decries GOP Attacks Over Baby Formula At Border Facilities As "Repugnant"
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday forcefully denounced the connection some Republican lawmakers have made between the national baby formula shortage and the availability of formula at migrant holding facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border. "We are taking care of the basic needs of people in our custody. We are taking care of the basic needs of babies, and that includes baby formula," Mayorkas told CBS News during an interview Tuesday near the Texas border. "The connection between honoring our humanitarian and legal obligation to those babies and a supply issue in the interior of the United States is false and repugnant." (Montoya-Galvez and Sganga, 5/17)
In related news —
Roll Call:
Despite Congress’ Efforts, It’ll Take Time To Refill The Baby Bottles
Lawmakers are throwing nearly every tool in their arsenal, including a proposed $28 million in taxpayer dollars, at the baby formula shortage. But it isn’t clear how quickly those solutions will result in cans on grocery store shelves. The shortage is dire — right now, roughly 40 percent of infant formula is missing from shelves in the United States. And while new actions announced by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday night will help stem the shortage, it may take up to two months to see a difference. (Cohen, 5/18)
AP:
EXPLAINER: What We Know About Shuttered Baby Formula Plant
Food safety experts say the case underscores the challenges of tracing foodborne illnesses. Because there were only two samples collected from the four cases, “Right from the get-go we were limited in our ability,” to link the baby formula to the illnesses, said the FDA’s food director Susan Mayne. “We simply don’t have the evidence to demonstrate that causality.” Abbott says the lack of a strain match indicates “there is no evidence to link our formulas to these infant illnesses.” (Perrone, 5/17)
North Carolina Health News:
How NC Families Are Coping With The Formula Shortage
Mothers in Wake County have come together in a Facebook group to alert people to stores that have baby formula on their shelves and help get supplies to those in need. On Formula Exchange Wake County NC, moms have been posting messages about the kinds of formula they are seeking. Others post photos of store shelves that are not empty and alert the group about the location of supplies that have been in shortage for months. (Blythe, 5/18)
