Thread by @AliRogin

#BabyFormulaShortage 🧵 We're about to hear from @US_FDA commissioner Califf at @EnergyCommerce oversight subcommittee. And leaders from the 3 biggest formula companies testify on the second panel. I'll tweet notable statements/exchanges here.

And you can watch @NewsHour's live streaming coverage of the hearing here:

.@DrCaliff_FDA now giving opening statement. A few notes from his prepared remarks: A timeline he provides notes the whistleblower report received on 10/21/21 about the Sturgis plant and says the FDA "begins planning for an inspection" there. But they didn't try to inspect the

facility until December 31, at which point Abbott delayed it another month, citing COVID-19 positives. It seems like the FDA is trying to shift the blame to Abbott to explain why the Sturgis plant wasn't inspected until January 2022, but that of course doesn't explain the 2-month

gap between the whistleblower report and even the initial attempt to inspect the facility.

.@RepMGriffith mentioned this delay in his opening stmt: "I don't understand how the FDA can justify 3 months to respond to this crisis... I expect to find why the FDA did not move heaven and earth in an attempt to get the Sturgis plant back up and running as soon as possible."

.@DrCaliff_FDA on the 3-month delay between whistleblower report and Sturgis plant inspection: "it was too slow; there were decisions that were sub-optimal along the way."

More @DrCaliff_FDA: "My basic plan has been to get through this crisis and we will be looking at the overall food program from the perspective of reforming it, but not waiting to deal with the specifics of this case."

.@DrCaliff_FDA cites some issues within the @US_FDA that plague the entire federal government: tired, overworked staffers, underfunded food inspection segment, outmoded technology.

This is an aside, but bringing it up because @RepKathleenRice just said it, and @BrianDeeseNEC says it a lot too - that 3 formula companies control 90% of the market - it's actually 4, including Perrigo. Is it because only 3 have WIC contracts? Just genuinely curious.

I'm surprised that so far this hearing hasn't more on establishing a timeline of the delays. @RepSchakowsky just gave it a shot. @DrCaliff_FDA said there was a delay interviewing the whistleblower because of "[unintelliglbe] issues" that were "personal" (his mic gave out)

And he said there was a "lack of escalation" in which senior officials were not made aware of the Sturgis problems until early February. Again - @US_FDA provided a timeline today. But I thought we'd have more q's today about the major gaps in that timeline.

Pretty stunning revelation: @FrankYiannasFDA, Deputy Commissioner of Food Policy & Response, says he wasn't aware of the whistleblower report until Feb. 10 - almost 4 months later. "I'm not sure why the report wasn't shared with me and how it didn't get escalated."

The @US_FDA also announces that the internal investigation is no longer being overseen by the principal deputy commissioner who was among the first officials to see the whistleblower report in October, and will instead be led by Dr. Steve Solomon who leads the vet med practice.