<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654734448276,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-fe9d-da96-ad7d-ffbf8a5c0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654734448276,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-fe9d-da96-ad7d-ffbf8a5c0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54713487", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1028431"} }); ","_id":"00000181-45db-d590-a5f1-c7fbd9940000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedAbbott Laboratories and the Food and Drug Administration were alerted to alleged problems at Abbott’s infant formula plant in Michigan in February 2021, months earlier than what has been reported by officials publicly, calling into question the timeline of events leading up to a nationwide shortage.
A complaint filed under the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s whistleblower-protection program raised concerns about the state of the factory equipment at a plant in Sturgis and if the formula distributed was safe for consumption, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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“We know there have been various questions about the timeline of events leading up to the FDA’s warning and Abbott’s recall of products manufactured at their Sturgis facility. Our top priority right now is addressing the dire need for infant formula in the U.S. market, and our teams are working day and night to make that happen,” an FDA spokesperson told the outlet.
“We investigated the federal OSHA complaint and have not been able to confirm the allegations,” an Abbott spokesperson said.
Abbott, the largest infant formula manufacturer in the country, and the FDA were made aware of the complaint during the same month by the Labor Department, but it took two months for Abbott to issue a response, sources told the outlet.
The same individual who filed the complaint in February also filed a discrimination complaint with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration after being fired in August 2020 and filed a subsequent complaint to its federal equivalent in October 2021.
The FDA previously only publicly acknowledged receiving a complaint in October 2021 about the Sturgis plant.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Abbott has been the target of scrutiny since the manufacturer initiated a voluntary recall in February of certain contaminated formulas, exacerbating a growing shortage of formula across the country. Abbott’s plant in Sturgis was closed for several months earlier this year after four babies contracted a Cronobacter bacterial illness from formula at the site before resuming production Saturday.
The Biden administration has been criticized for its response to the shortage with officials calling into question when warning signs of problems were first raised.
