On 5/26/2022, Biden FDA Commissioner Califf blames “escalation error” for months of inaction on formula shortage. Dem Senator Patty Murray grills FDA Califf on FDA’s response to infant formula crisis, demands further action. Senator Cassidy grills FDA boss on Biden’s baby formula shortage affecting Louisiana mothers and babies.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) grilled President Biden’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf on the Administration’s failure to address the nationwide baby formula shortage affecting Louisiana parents and babies, despite repeated warning signs and opportunities to avert the crisis. “The summer before this began, or a summer ago, there’s an eight percent increase in the shortage rate on shelves,” said Dr. Cassidy. “We had a problem a summer ago.”
Cassidy discussed the FDA’s dysfunctional leadership and unwillingness to fully return employees back to work. He also highlighted the impact the shortage has had on families in Louisiana and across the country. Approximately 75 percent of infants receive some kind of infant formula. Mothers have struggled to find formula on store shelves, and in some cases, have travelled from town to town in search of formula.
Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, is pressing the agency to see what steps it is taking to address the shortage. “What doesn’t make sense, what I can’t for the life of me figure out, is why it took so long to investigate in the first place. Why did so much time pass before the FDA took serious action to investigate this contamination in baby formula?”
Califf replied, “Well, Senator Murray, I appreciate the question and I think we all have a great degree of sorrow over the difficulties that you’re describing … to start the investigation that very first case you have to collect samples”
Murray: “so I’m asking why it took six months to take serious action?”
Califf: “because the answer to that question is as uh in our document there are systemic issues at FDA and in our interactions with the industry and our authorities that need to be corrected.”
Murray: “it’s clearly like you have a plan to do that yes and when can we see it when can you see the plan to correct these problems?
Califf: yes um I mean we have a plan but a complete plan written out we’ll have to get to you as soon as we can I can’t give you an exact date right now.
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Escalation Error FDA Formula Shortage, Can not Zoom inspection, dysfunctional leadership, unwilling return to work.