Posted on 05/26/2022 8:49:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Last October, a conscientious whistleblower at Abbott Nutrition wrote a letter directly to the interim chief of the FDA, acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock, and others. He claimed there were serious problems at the company’s Sturgis, Mich. plant.
But the current head of the agency, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, will testify before a congressional committee today that the top levels of the agency weren’t aware of the whistleblower’s report because of “mailroom issues.”
Dozens of infants are currently being hospitalized because the specialty formula they depend on to survive is out of stock.
And the FDA had “mailroom issues.”
Up until now, however, FDA officials declined to comment on why it took months between the first report of a bacterial infection linked to the plant last September, their inspection this winter, which turned up a range of food safety problems, and the recall. But the new details aren’t likely to tamp down the criticism of the agency, rather, they are already fueling further outrage from lawmakers.
“The FDA, at every step of this process, dropped the ball,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told POLITICO in an interview about the new details revealed in the testimony. “It put infants at risk.”
It actually gets worse. Despite getting the first reports of probable contamination in January, the Sturgis plant wasn’t shut down until mid-February. Even before then, there were internal discussions at the FDA about potential supply disruptions. This was critical because the Abbott plant supplies half the infant formula in the United States for the WIC program — the government food program for infants being raised mostly by single mothers.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
“...at every step of this process, dropped the ball”
~~~
Nope.
One or two instances are random, or even institutional negligence, but “every step of the process” is a pattern, and a pattern is deliberate.
Nobody will be fired or reprimanded.
Government workers are protected and more important than the citizenry.
> ... the top levels of the agency weren’t aware of the whistleblower’s report because of “mailroom issues.” <
What a great excuse!
I think I’m going to use it the next time I get audited.
IRS agent: Mr. Leaning Right, we have not received tax returns from you since 1970.
Me: You’re probably having mailroom issues.
IRS agent: I suppose so. Sorry to have bothered you. Have a nice day.
As Ronald Reagan explained: Government IS the problem
So the Democrats want to give more money as a reward?
I believe it. They don’t want to be caught in a lie so I’m sure it’s true. I’ll bet most of the Maryland-based FDA HQ mailroom staff are *still* working from home, whatever that means.
Government is......No, make that big, huge humungous government at it’s best is pretty much FUBAR.
Now with the ‘adults’ in charge it is running so smooth, they do not even learn of problems for at least 4 to 5 months after the fact.
Then 4-5 months before an action is decided upon and then 4-5 more months to implement such action and then SHAZAM, the problem(s) are kicked down the road and declared FIXED.
The Dimjo Administration is so great, ain’t it?
Government created the problem, government ignored the problem, government will attempt to “fix” the problem.
A triple threat.
This is what happens when the government is in charge.
Make note of aspects of your life that government has control over, and be prepared for them to drop the ball.
Baby formula lies just too near the marxists’ thirst for abortion.
And, so what? What’s going to happen to the wrong-doers? Nothing.
The real problem was that they shut down the plant, but failed to substantiate the whistleblower’s claims and could find no contaminated product at all, nor could they actually link the infant illnesses to the formula found in the homes. 3 out of 4 were negative and the one contaminated open can matched contaminated bottled water used to mix it.
None of the environmental tests that found bacteria at the plant match the bacteria from the infants.
The FDA power trip created the shortage
yep, the mail “got lost between the cracks” ... apparently, “the dog ate my homework” doesn’t sound professional enough for a federal agency ...
you forgot the last, most important step.
Government will claim credit for “fixing” the problem.
There should have been a massive effort to sanitize that plant, probably a week at most with federal help and crews working 24/7. The plant could have been reopened and functioning within a month.
The plant is sanitized regularly. The bug that sickened and killed the babies was NOT found in the plant. FDA just dragged their feet because they could.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.