Abbott and Public Health Officials have failed in their duty to protect the most vulnerable

From September 2021 to February 2022, the CDC received reports of Cronobacter bacteria cases in infants in Minnesota, Ohio and Texas that resulted in four illnesses with two deaths.  These illnesses were ultimately linked by the CDC and FDA to the consumption of powdered infant formula produced by Abbott in its Sturgis, Michigan facility.  A worldwide recall of formula produced in the plant has left store shelves bare and parents scrambling for safe alternatives to feed their babies.

According to the CDC, Cronobacter  can cause severe, life-threatening infections or meningitis. Although Cronobacter infections are rare, they can be deadly in newborns in the first days or weeks of life with a mortality rate between fifty and eighty percent.  Only a handful of Cronobacter infections are reported yearly but given only the state of Minnesota requires labs to report positive tests, it is unclear how many illnesses are missed.

So, how did Abbott and the FDA find themselves facing some grieving and many other thousands of scared and angry parents?  It is a history of warning signs ignored.

In September 2019, the last time the FDA inspected the facility, the FDA cited Abbott for failing to test an adequate amount of formula to assure that it met “the required microbiological quality standards.”

In September 2021, after two years with no onsite inspection, the FDA returned to Abbott and found several concerning practices that likely lead to formula contamination, specifically, Abbott failed to “maintain a building used in the manufacture, processing, packing or holding of infant formula in a clean and sanitary condition.”

In October, 2021, the FDA was warned in a confidential whistle blower document by a former Abbott employee who worked at the Sturgis facility, that Abbott was falsifying records, releasing untested formula into the market and failing to adequately clean the plant.  This waring appears to have been ignored by senior FDA officials.

In its March 2022 recall notice, Abbott acknowledged having found “evidence of Cronobacter sakazakii in the plant in non-product contact areas, ”but denied having found the bacterium in finished product. This would appear to be in direct contradiction to the FDA’s revelation that the company had recorded the destruction of product in the past due to the presence of Cronobacter.  Specifically, “a review of the firm’s internal records also indicates environmental contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii and the firm’s destruction of product due to the presence of Cronobacter.”

Abbott and the FDA seem to have forgotten that the product that was being produced was more than a canned commodity but was a life-saving formula to be ingested by the most vulnerable. This is the type of food that requires the highest of standards and mandates the closest of inspections.  Yes, babies’ lives depended and depend on it.

Abbott will likely face both civil and criminal liability for producing a food product that was tainted and sickened and killed children.  The CDC needs to reconsider making Cronobacter a nationwide reportable disease, so no illnesses are missing, and outbreaks figured out sooner so the product can be taken off the market in days instead of months.  The FDA leadership has not been held to account for inadequate inspections and failing to act on the whistle blower warnings.  The FDA has essentially been silent on what it failed to do, but more importantly, what it plans to do to prevent the next Cronobacter outbreak.

Instead, the FDA facing formula shortages, abdicates its responsibility to protect the public by letting parent know they are on their own with this thin gruel of a warning: “Those seeking access [to the formula] should consult with their healthcare provider in considering whether the benefit of consuming such product outweighs the potential risk of bacterial infection in the user’s particular circumstances.”

So, what can parents do to protect their children if Abbott and the FDA will not?

First, clearly, you must consider powdered formula as likely contaminated. So, for those that use powered infant formula sanitize all feeding equipment and use boiling water in formula preparation.  Second, contact your Congressmember and Senators and tell them their oversight of the FDA is unacceptable.  Tell them that parents of babies should not be the last line of defense to fix the failure of Abbott and the FDA to assure babies do not die from infant formula.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.