Pelosi Threatens Indictments Over Baby Formula Shortage
How bad are the optics on the baby formula shortage?
So bad that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is threatening indictments over the situation. Who would be the target of such an action remains a mystery.
A frustrated Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Tuesday that indictments could be handed down in the nationwide baby formula shortage after the dust settles.“I think that when all of this is done — I’m not associating my colleagues with what I’m going to say right now, I’m just saying it myself — I think there might be a need for indictment,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters during a news conference on legislative plans to address the shortage and prevent future ones.Pelosi did not specify who might be indicted, and a spokesman did not clarify her remarks.
The Democrats are looking to blame something other than their policies.
Pelosi raised the possibility of prosecution during a press conference with fellow Democrats, after House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro vowed that her panel will investigate Abbott Nutrition, the company that issued product recalls and shut down a major manufacturing plant in February amid a U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation for possible contamination.DeLauro said that “people have to be accountable, whether it is at FDA, or whether it is at Abbott.”Abbott voluntarily shuttered its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, following complaints that four babies who consumed products made at the facility became ill from bacterial infections. Two of the infants died.The company recently acknowledged that its recall worsened the industry-wide formula shortage, but insists that “after a thorough review of all available data, there is no evidence to link our formulas to these infant illnesses.”
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has reached an agreement with Abbott Laboratories on the steps needed to reopen the company’s shuttered baby formula plant.
The company said on Monday that production could begin within about two weeks and could translate to more formula on shelves in six to eight weeks. The company said it will continue flying formula in from a plant in Ireland.The agreement said Abbott must hire a qualified expert to oversee a variety of improvements at the Sturgis facility.As frustration at the crib side and in grocery aisles grew, the agency has been in a race to replenish depleted supplies that have become political fodder for Republicans against the Biden administration.The plant shutdown exacerbated an existing supply crisis, as parents rushed to stock up on formula. With store shelves bare in some communities, some have been so desperate they have fed their infants powdered oatmeal cereal and fruit juice, even though pediatricians say formula or breast milk is a crucial source of nutrition from birth to the first birthday.
This country was once a land of abundance. Now we are importing formula.
Nestle SA (NESN.S) is flying baby formula supplies to the United States from the Netherlands and Switzerland to alleviate the shortage in U.S. supermarkets, the company said on Tuesday.Nestle is moving Gerber baby food formula to the United States from the Netherlands and Alfamino baby formula from Switzerland to the U.S., it said in an emailed statement to Reuters.”We prioritized these products because they serve a critical medical purpose as they are for babies with cow’s milk protein allergies,” the company said. “Both products were already being imported but we moved shipments up and rushed via air to help fill immediate needs.”
While Pelosi is threatening indictments, let’s recall her infamous ice cream social on The Late Show. Being out of touch is totally on-brand for her.
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