ELECARE AND THE BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE

Robert B. Ford, the CEO of Abbott Laboratories apologized for the Elecare, Similac shortage . He stated an apology ,in an op-ed letter to the Washington Post .  In his letter he stated “We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation’s baby formula shortage. He further stated, “we will supply more baby formula than before.” The story of this sad tale  begins with the death of an infant in Houston Texas, Cynthia Salinas ,son Azeal, died from a bacterial infection. The medical profession discovered his death was due to  the ingestion of Elecare , a formula  manufactured by Abbott Laboratories under the name of Elecare, the same company that produces the popular brand Similac. Azeal was born July 14, 2021. His brain had been aggressively attacked by bacteria. The name of the bacteria that killed the infant is Cronobacter sakazekii. Immediately Abbott recalled voluntarily on February 17, 2022. Similac, Alimentum and Elecare powder formulas. These were produced at Abbotts manufacturing plant at Sturgis, Michigan.

However, this recall would plunge the nation into a storage that would rise from less than 5%  in January 2021 to 43.08% in the first week of May 2022. The problem is a lot deeper than the deaths of the four infants, one in Minnesota , one in Texas , and two in Ohio. The ongoing supply chains disruptions are tied to the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 caused shortages in a wide range of consumers goods, but the lack of baby formula worsened after recall. It forced the federal government to ease restrictions of imports to allow more foreign baby formulas on American shelves.

But, why were there critical shortages of supplies of baby formulas? It is a four-billion-dollar industry yet Abbott and Reckitt Benckiser Group control 80% of the market. However, what really caused the problem in the U.S. society? Didn’t someone inspect the baby formula before allowing its use on infants? Wasn’t there some way to detect the presence of harmful bacteria in the baby formula? In October, a whistle blower, a former Sturgis quality assurance worker complained to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that in 2019, the plant did not destroy an entire batch of formula where problematic micro-organism were found because “senior management was under significant pressure to meet its numbers”; and that the company was “sanitizing” its files before providing them to FDA auditors. Because of this they did not disclose details about the organisms that were found.

Still the corporation insists that the bacteria found to have killed the children is not the same bacteria as was found in the plant. The two strains of cronobacter did not kill the infants . Company spokespersons insisted that the upmost care has been taken to ensure the product, Elecare will be safe for infants to use

The company says that the whistle blower was fired for violating food safety polices . His complaint is tainted ,according to Abbott, because it was a biased attempt to smear the company and to insure, he maintained creditability. Abbott insists it has the interests of the customers and its babies at heart.

The problem is how much of the babies’ interest can the corporation have when the interest of a four-billion-dollar industry is weighted against it. The U.S. government in the emergency has agreed to aid the American people by shipping the product on military aircraft. But what is the real problem ? The answer is simple: greed. Given the history of the company. There is much to prove that there is sufficient evidence of it.

In 1888 , Dr Wallace Abbott , an 1885 graduate of the University of Michigan, founded the Abbott Alkaloidal Company in Ravenswood ,Chicago. There he owned a drug store and was practicing medicine. He used of the active part of a medicinal plant morphine, quinine, strychnine and codeine. He formed these into tiny dosemetric grandules. These could be easily given to patients . His company grew and became an international pharmaceutical company. It is one of the largest companies in India.

The company moved from North Chicago to London where it became affiliated with a Canadian company. From there it moved to India and was renamed The Boots Pure Drug Company(India) in 1944. Then in 1971 it was renamed The Boots Company(India ) Ltd. It became Boots Pharmaceuticals Ltd in 1991 . In 1995 the name was changed again to Knoll Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Finally ,in 2002, its name was finally changed back to Abbott India Ltd. I.

Abbott continued to expand and grow. It entered a joint venture with a Japanese company to produce radio pharmaceuticals . It later merged with Ross Laboratories and with the acquisition  of Ross it acquired  the Similac brand. After this Abbott expanded once again  producing the products Pedialyte and Ensure. Abbott has offices in Italy and France . Its most infamous act was according to Lester Grinspoon, a Harvard professor, the sale in 1966 of the equivalent of two million doses of methamphetamine in powder form to a Long Island criminal dealer.

Capitalism and its drive for ever increasing profits. The desire for increased profits. Baby formulas create an enormous amount of profit. This profit derived from surplus value is real wealth. Abbott is a monopoly and fears no other competition. In the U.S. Corporations help each other. The Washington Post , a conglomerate itself, gave CEO Robert B. Ford, the right it affords few others .  An opinion that is little better than an apology.  The cruel thing is that Abbott could have prevented the manufacture of the baby formula infected with the bacteria. The spread of Cronobacter sakazekii could have been prevented. Abbott should have taken the time. Safety and people should mean more than profits.

We would like to believe the words of Dr. Karyn Wulf; she is a pediatrician and mother. We would like to believe in the sincerity of CEO Robert B. Ford. However, given the history of U.S. capitalism and the history of Abbott Laboratories , we cannot afford to be so gullible. Besides one cannot restore human life with an apology Abbott Industries knows that and so does its CEO.