Four babies have been hospitalized in South Carolina due to the nationwide baby formula shortage in President Joe Biden’s America.
“The majority of what we’ve seen is when patients are on specialized formulas for feeding intolerance or milk protein allergies or something specific related to their disease state, and they try an alternative and it doesn’t go well,” said Pediatric Clinical Dietitian Kristi Fogg at MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital.
If this was a one-off mistake by Biden most would understand and even forgive. But a clear pattern has emerged from the Biden White House of ignoring problems easy to solve with common sense (only a fool waits until the last minute to pull out of Afghanistan) until they turn into full blown debacles.
Inflation – Biden was warned. Afghanistan, Biden was warned. The baby formula shortage, Biden was warned. Legislatively, the Dems can’t do anything because Biden is a poor leader. He was warned by Joe Manchin about what would pass the Senate and what wouldn’t but Biden didn’t listen and chaos followed.
It is a pattern of incompetence we cannot ignore any longer. Biden needs to fire his entire team and find capable people or he needs to step down and let someone else do the job.
From Newsweek:
Heather M. Woolwine, a spokesperson for the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, told The State Friday that the babies have been hospitalized either because homemade formulas have made them sick, or because they are not tolerant of new types of formula their parents have been forced to use as a substitute.
…Hospitals in Atlanta, and Memphis, Tennessee, have also reported taking in infants as a result of the shortage. Dr. Mark Corkins, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis told Newsweek that he is treating two babies due to the issue.
“I am angry to be put in a situation that I can’t ‘fix’ for my patients no matter how hard I try. But my primary emotion is sadness, that parents and patients can’t get the formulas that were working so well for them,” he told Newsweek earlier this week.
Biden issued a statement about the crisis full of empty words and inaction.
“During the infant formula shortage caused by Abbott Nutrition’s voluntary recall, the President has directed his team to do everything possible to ensure that there is enough safe infant formula in the country and available for families that need it.
“Today, President Biden is announcing additional actions to get more formula into the United States and onto store shelves.
“Invoking the Defense Production Act. To ensure that manufacturers have the necessary ingredients to make safe, healthy infant formula here at home, President Biden is invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA).
“The President is requiring suppliers to direct needed resources to infant formula manufacturers before any other customer who may have ordered that good. Directing firms to prioritize and allocate the production of key infant formula inputs will help increase production and speed up in supply chains.
“Launching Operation Fly Formula. To speed up the import of infant formula and get more formula to stores as soon as possible, President Biden has directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use Department of Defense (DOD) commercial aircraft to pick up overseas infant formula that meets U.S. health and safety standards, so it can get to store shelves faster.
“DOD will use its contracts with commercial air cargo lines, as it did to move materials during the early months of the COVID pandemic, to transport products from manufacturing facilities abroad that have met Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety standards. Bypassing regular air freighting routes will speed up the importation and distribution of formula and serve as an immediate support as manufacturers continue to ramp up production.
“Earlier this week, FDA and Abbott agreed on next steps to reopen Abbott’s facility in Sturgis, Michigan, which was closed due to concerns about bacterial contamination after four infants fell ill.
“FDA also announced guidance that will allow major formula manufacturers to safely import formula that is not currently being produced for the U.S. market. The Administration continues to urge states to cut red tape and implement WIC flexibility, as USDA wrote to states in a letter last week.
“The Administration remains in close touch with manufacturers and retailers to identify transportation and logistical needs to increase the amount and speed of FDA approved formula being shipped into the country, and ensure that formula is quickly moving from factories to retailers.
“Today’s steps further underscore the Administration’s commitment to addressing the formula shortage quickly and safely, and the Administration will continue working overtime to get more formula to stores as soon as possible,” the statement said.
