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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Concern over the fragility of the premature infant formula market has reached Congress, a letter shared with Axios shows.
The big picture: Seven Republican lawmakers wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra last week offering to work with the agency on legislation to make the preemie formula market more reliable.
State of play: The only two companies that make formula appropriate for premature infants, Abbott and Reckitt Benckiser, are threatening to leave the market as they facem hundreds of lawsuits from families of infants who got sick or died after taking their formulas.
- The companies, which both deny claims that they failed to warn of the risks associated with their formulas, have been already ordered by judges to pay millions of dollars in damages over the claims.
The lawmakers, most of whom sit on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, say they're concerned about the prospect of the companies leaving the market.
- "Should that happen, we believe the absence of these products would put the health and safety of preterm infants at risk," the letter says.
- The letter asks Becerra whether HHS believes the use of preterm formula causes illness, and whether he's directed the FDA to increase supply in infant formulas if the current manufacturers leave the market.
Between the lines: Rep. Buddy Carter, one of the signatories of the letter, is reportedly angling to be the chair of the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, and could elevate this issue if he wins the gavel.
- Other lawmakers on the letter are Reps. Diana Harshbarger, Troy Balderson, Mike Carey, Dan Crenshaw, Laurel Lee and Marianette Miller-Meeks.
