The Connecticut General Assembly’s committee on Public Health and Children held a forum in Hartford to address the baby formula shortage.
State Senator Saud Anwar is a medical doctor and a co-chair of the Committee on Children. Despite the controversy surrounding Abbott Nutrition, he said the Assembly is committed to doing their part to make sure children across Connecticut get the supplies they need.
“There’s so many sleepless parents around our state and around our country that we have a responsibility to do whatever it takes,” said Anwar.
State Representative Liz Linehan, another co-chair of the Committee on Children, said there’s an extra push to make sure parents don’t get into the practice of creating their own baby formulas.
“We’ve learned that not only is it dangerous, but additionally there could be infants who can’t digest certain proteins,” said Linehan. “You can just make them sicker; we could see seizures; we could see severe dehydration and a failure to thrive. There are all sorts of things that can happen.”
Just hours before the forum, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced legislation that would provide the Food and Drug Administration with $28 million in emergency funds toward inspections at baby formula plants across the globe.
“Parents and caretakers across the country need our support now,” said DeLauro. “This bill takes important steps to restore supply in a safe and secure manner. Additionally, with these funds, the FDA will be able to help to prevent this issue from occurring again.”
DeLauro called out the Food and Drug Administration for a slow response to the crisis. She also said Abbott put profit over people and attempted to hide that information from the FDA.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also attended the forum. He said he remains firm on his stance for federal regulators and prosecutors to clamp down on the potential for price gouging.
