council.
Thank you for your time.
Judy: Thank you, Jeff.
Let's dive into the complexities
of this shortage including what
it will take to alleviate it
more quickly and to fix bigger
problems over time.
Our Allie Rogan has been
reporting on this and she joins
me now.
You have been looking at this
for quite some time and you
remind us there is a bigger
context.
Reporter: Across the industry,
people have been telling me
today that the measures of white
house introduced cannot hurt but
they will not address the core
issues.
A lot of these companies have
not had issues obtaining the raw
materials that Brian Deese was
talking about.
And as he said, it is a
proactive measure to ensure the
companies that of ramped up
production can sustain those
levels without interruption.
The same can be said for these
flights the white house is
introduced.
Industry representatives say
that this is not a chief driver
of the crisis.
But it cannot hurt.
A spokesman for Abbott labs
tells me that they already had
emergency airlift of their
product from an fda approved
facility in Ireland.
They welcomed any measures that
would cut down on transfer time.
Judy: We know this issue has
been getting a lot more
attention from lawmakers.
They have been pressuring the
white house.
Urging it to do more it.
The fda commissioner testified
on the hill.
Reporter: What Brian Deese did
not refer to which is important
to point out is that the fda is
under a lot of scrutiny for its
timeline and how quickly it
acted.
There was a whistleblower report
that came out in October of
2021.
The fda did not interview the
whistleblower until December.
They did not do an inspection of
that sturgi, Michigan facility
until January.
There are a lot of questions
about the timeline.
The commissioner was before the
house appropriations committee
today.
He did mirrored on a lot of the
specific citing an ongoing
investigation but that did not
satisfy a lot of lawmakers
including Rosa.
>> You cannot hide behind an
investigation.
We need answers and we need them
now.
>> We have an oversight hearing
next week and we will be
prepared to go into much more
detail at that point.
We can do better.
>> You have an oversight
committee meeting next week, you
are before the committee that
funds what you do.
This information is relevant to
this subcommittee of
appropriations.
>> I appreciate what you are
saying but the investigation is
not completed yet so I am not in
a position to answer specifics
like that.
Judy: What -- beyond what the
administration is doing, what is
seen to be the chief solutions?
Reporter: To the immediate
crisis, it is about getting the
formula back on the shelves and
the fda announced it is working
with Abbott labs to reopen the
closed facility in Michigan.
The reopening process will take
about two weeks and it may need
another 6-8 weeks before we see
product on shelves.
This reveals a paradox.
The two entities most
responsible for the crisis are
those with the most tools
available to help us get out of
it.
The house voted to approve an
additional $28 million in
emergency funding for the fda to
beef up the food safety program.
The fda is also surging
resources to Abbott to help it
reopen this facility.
As Brian Deese noted, Abbott and
three others makeup 90% of the
American market share.
These companies are too big to
fail.
Judy: And you were telling us
there are longer-term solutions
that need to be looked at.
Reporter: This is forcing an
industrywide reckoning.
Brian Deese talked about
competition.
Legislators also talked about
federal funding for low income
infant nutrition which covers
about 15% of all American
infants.
It is a program known as wic.
These state programs went
quickly and expanding access for
beneficiaries state by state but
that was because they had
existing flexibilities because
of the covid-19 health security
crisis.
Lawmakers today, the senate
unanimously passed a bill to
make the flexibilities
permanent.
The house passed it earlier this
week with nine no votes and it
heads to the president's desk.
The scrutiny of the fda will
continue.
The commissioner and expected --
and executives from three of the
four formula companies will be
back on the hill to testify.
Judy: We are learning so much
about this industry which I
think most of us knew very
little about.
Reporter: Absolutely.
Judy: Thank you, Allie Rogan.