By Daniella Diaz, Betsy Klein and Brenda Goodman, CNN
The infant formula shortage has affected millions of families across the country and left the Biden administration scrambling to figure out what went wrong after clear miscommunication and mishandling by the US Food and Drug Administration.
President Joe Biden conceded Wednesday he didn’t understand how big of an effect the shutdown of an Abbott baby formula plant in Michigan and subsequent recalls would have on the baby formula supply until April — but the FDA became aware of the issue in the fall of 2021, according to a CNN analysis and congressional testimony.
The White House has previously said it had been working on addressing the shortages since February.
Here’s a look into the timeline of the baby formula shortage, when the FDA first learned of the issue and when the White House became involved.
The FDA learns of an infant who contracts a Cronobacter infection after they consumed baby formula produced at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan, facility. According to the FDA, the department “immediately reported this case to Abbott Nutrition and immediately followed up on the complaint, including testing formula associated with this case complaint. No Cronobacter was recovered from the product after FDA testing.”
The date on the whistleblower report that details allegations of negligent cleaning practices and efforts from officials at Abbott to keep the FDA from learning about safety...
The HHS secretary touted a proposed $1.1 billion IHS budget increase but stayed silent on Medicaid cuts and a rollback of childhood vaccination efforts U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robe...