Lawmakers: FDA Delaying Investigation, Accountability over Baby Formula Shortage

U.S. House oversight lawmakers reviewing the FDA’s role in the baby formula shortage say the federal agency is dodging oversight and delaying providing answers.

Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week asking for interviews with FDA officials to get to the bottom of the baby formula crisis that rocked the U.S. last year.

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Gilbert Runs Hard Against Pelosi Speakership in Close Race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District

When U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) came to Shaker Heights, OH this week to fundraise for Democratic 13th-District congressional candidate Emilia Sykes, Republican hopeful Madison Gesiotto Gilbert was happy to let constituents know about it.

This wasn’t the speaker’s first major show of support for Sykes; Pelosi cut her a $30,000 check via her campaign organization in July. When Pelosi flew east to support Sykes,  a state representative from Ohio’s 34th Legislative District who the National Republican Congressional Committee calls Pelosi’s “protégé,” Republican spokesperson Courtney Parella put out a statement saying, “Emilia Sykes is bought and paid for by Nancy Pelosi and would serve as a rubber stamp for Pelosi’s failed economic agenda.”

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Congressman: Baby Formula Stocked at Border for Migrants ‘Like a Costco’

On a trip to visit the United States-Mexico border this week, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) said he saw well-stocked warehouses with a variety of supplies including baby formula.

The facility for unaccompanied minors and families in Donna, Texas is stocked high “like a Costco” with baby formula, Carter said in a Thursday interview with Fox News.

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FDA Claims Whistleblower Report on Baby Formula Shortage Got Lost in Mailroom

An official with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that the reason the agency didn’t find a shocking whistleblower’s report on the baby formula shortage because the report was lost in the mailroom for at least four months.

The New York Post reports that the 34-page document had been sent to the FDA back in October, claiming that an Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, Michigan was experiencing a shortage in product primarily due to increasingly unsanitary conditions. The FDA’s Frank Yiannas, Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, admits he didn’t actually see the report until February.

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Governor Bill Lee, Other Republican Governors Call for Federal Action on Baby Formula Shortage

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee led 18 other GOP Governors in a letter to President Joe Biden to call for federal action on the ongoing baby formula shortage.

The group produced examples of specific actions Biden could take in order to ease the burden on families across the country.

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Wisconsin Gov. Evers Executive Order Aims to Block Infant Formula Price Gouging

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Thursday signed an executive order with the goal of blocking potential price gouging of infant formula throughout the state.

The new order “declares that a period of abnormal economic disruption exists and prohibits price gouging of infant formula for the next 90 days.”

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Florida Residents Sentenced to Prison for Baby Formula Fraud Scheme

Three Florida residents were sentenced to federal prison for their role in a fraud scheme involving baby formula and other items, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Johnny Grobman, Raoul Doekhie, and Sherida Nabi were given an 18-month prison sentence for cheating manufacturers out of at least $100 million. 

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Anatomy of the American Baby Formula Shortage

At the outset of his presidency, Joe Biden promised competence by a bigger, better government. A few days ago, one of his loyal allies exposed a gross incompetence by federal officials on Biden’s watch that defied that promise and inflamed a baby formula shortage now panicking parents nationwide.

Rep. Rose DeLauro, D-Conn., a reliable liberal ally, unveiled documents showing the Biden Food and Drug Administration was alerted by a whistleblower last fall about potential contamination issues at the Abbott Nutrition baby formula factory in Michigan and failed for months to act aggressively.

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Michigan Baby Formula Plant Closure Squeezes Supply

Michigan moms and babies relying on a steady supply of baby formula are joining families nationwide stymied by supply chain issues, product recalls, and record 40-year high inflation that’s left many baby formula shelves bare.

Lynn Sutfin, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman, said the problem affected about 85% of the more than 200,000 people in the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program that gives recipients about $30 to $112 or more per month.

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