The Abbott manufacturing facility in Sturgis, Mich., May 13.
PHOTO: JEFF KOWALSKY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
In shutting down the Abbott plant, the FDA was acting from a zero-risk mentality in its own bailiwick—protecting infant formula from factory contamination—with zero regard for costs and risks that would be somebody else’s problem. These include a nightmare for parents and a risk of malnutrition for thousands of newborns, particularly those in need of doctor-prescribed formulas that only the Michigan factory produced.