Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Formula Shortage May Linger Despite Latest White House Steps To Alleviate
The New York Times: White House, Under Pressure, Says It Will Address Baby Formula Shortage
The Biden administration said on Thursday that it was working to address a worsening nationwide shortage of infant formula, announcing efforts to speed manufacturing and increase imports as pressure mounted to respond to a crisis that has desperate parents scouring empty store aisles to feed their children. Officials outlined the plan after President Biden met with retailers and manufacturers, including Walmart, Target, Reckitt and Gerber, about their efforts to increase production. They also discussed steps the federal government could take to help stock bare shelves, particularly in rural areas, according to senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the conversation. (Karni, 5/12)
Politico: White House Announces Steps To Combat Infant Formula Shortage
Biden also sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan on Thursday, asking the agency to address “any illegal conduct” that might be worsening the shortage or driving people to hoard the supplies. He also asked the FTC to look into whether small or rural retailers are being put at a disadvantage as supply tightens. “It is unacceptable for families to lose time and spend hundreds of dollars more because of price gougers’ actions,” the president said in the letter. “I therefore ask that the Commission further examine whether there is price gouging in infant formula occurring, thoroughly investigate complaints brought to you through channels such as your fraud hotline, and that you bring all of the Commission’s tools to bear if you uncover any wrongdoing. We know State attorneys general are also examining this issue and may be valuable partners in this effort.” (Ward and Evich, 5/12)
Bloomberg: Baby Formula Shortage: Biden Under Fire For FDA Response
The White House raced Thursday to show it’s trying to ease a national baby formula shortage, as Republicans showered criticism on President Joe Biden for a crisis that has left frantic parents scouring store shelves to feed their children. Biden spoke with formula manufacturers, including Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC and Gerber Products Co., and retailers including Walmart Inc and Target Corp and announced new actions intended to increase supply. The administration is asking more states to relax rules on sizes and types of formulas eligible for government benefits, allowing parents to use subsidies for whatever products are in stock. (Sink and Edney, 5/12)
More on the baby formula shortage —
The Wall Street Journal: Baby Formula Shortage Could Leave Parents Scrambling For Months
Baby-formula manufacturers and retailers say they are working to address a long-running shortage in products on store shelves, but the hardships facing U.S. families may take months to abate. Abbott Laboratories, producer of Similac baby formula, said it is bringing products from its factory in Ireland to the U.S. as it continues talks with the Food and Drug Administration to restart production at its factory in Michigan. However, the company has said it would take weeks before products from the plant are available on store shelves. (Gasparro and Kang, 5/12)
USA Today: Nationwide Baby Formula Shortage: Parents Hoard Amid Price Gouging
As the national baby formula shortage has escalated in recent months, parents have been confronted with familiar problems seen throughout the pandemic: purchase restrictions, hoarding, price gouging and nagging questions about the sacrifices required to make ends meet. In this case: feeding their children. “Across the board, searching for formula at this point has become a full-time job,” said Brian Dittmeier, senior director of public policy at the National WIC Association, the non-profit advocacy arm of WIC. “Families are feeling that stress – both financially and in a time cost sense.” (Schulz, 5/13)
NPR: Senator Says Biden Should Consider Defense Production Act For Baby Formula
The infant formula shortage "is a life or death issue" for a lot of babies in the U.S. and a national emergency, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says. The New York Democrat told All Things Considered that she will ask President Biden to consider using the Defense Production Act to get more manufacturers on line to address the dire situation. Regular and specialized formulas, made for babies with allergies and metabolic disorders, have been running low across the U.S. for some time. (Martin and Diaz, 5/12)
Bloomberg: Infant Formula Shortage: Abbot Factory Bacteria Risk Spotted Last Year
Federal inspectors spotted the potential for baby formula made at an Abbott Laboratories plant to become contaminated months before a recall that exacerbated a nationwide shortage, a government document shows. A Food and Drug Administration report obtained by Bloomberg News through a freedom of information request showed that during a routine visit to Abbott’s Sturgis, Michigan, manufacturing facility in September, inspectors determined that employees may have transferred contaminants including deadly cronobacter from surfaces to baby formula. In one instance, the report said, records showed Abbott detected cronobacter in a finished batch of formula that may have been tainted by a worker who touched a contaminated surface without changing gloves. That batch wasn’t distributed. (Edney, 5/12)
NBC News: Breast Milk Banks Get Surge In Calls From Parents Amid Baby Formula Shortage
A baby formula shortage has prompted a “major surge in interest” in donor breast milk, according to Lindsey Groff, the executive director of the Human Milk Bank Association of North America, which accredits nonprofit milk banks. With the formula shortage worsening in recent weeks, “every milk bank that I have spoken with has seen a major increase in demand,” Groff said, adding that premature or medically fragile infants, such as those in the neonatal intensive care unit, receive priority for donor milk but that healthy, full-term babies can be recipients as well. (Chuck, 5/12)
Also —
The Washington Post: The Faux Outrage That Biden Is Stockpiling Baby Formula For Undocumented Immigrants
Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) sparked a furor Thursday when she posted photos that compared what she said were stockpiles of baby formula for undocumented immigrants with empty grocery shelves for Americans in local stores. “You see the American government sending by the pallet thousands and thousands of containers of baby formula to the border, that would make my blood boil,” she said. (Kessler, 5/12)
