"The nine most terrifying words are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Why do you think these nine little words are so terrifying? Keep in mind this not some radical fringe right-wing extremist, this perspective is being presented by one of America's most beloved presidents. What do you think Reagan was trying to warn us about? What could go wrong, if all the government is trying to do is step in and help?
Bare shelves and hungry babies offer all the clues we need. Consider the shortage of baby formula. Why is there a shortage of baby formula? Why are desperate mothers scrambling to feed their hungry babies? Because the government stepped in to help. You can almost here the FDA inspectors say it as they walked in the door of the facility:
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
The inspectors' intentions were pure, I'm sure. They were on site because somewhere in this vast country, four babies got sick and two of the died. The babies could have died from tainted formula made by Abbot Nutrition. While it's difficult to grasp why these four cases of "rare bacterial illness" were immediately linked to this Michigan facility, the government wasted no time in shutting the place down and forcing a national recall--so as to keep people safe while the inspectors searched for the invisible enemy.
That is an example of the Precautionary Principle. More on that in a bit.
With all the hungry babies and desperate mothers out there, one might assumed the government inspectors must have found a boat load of rare bacteria at Abbott Nutrition. But did they? It turns out, not so much. The Hill reports the following:
"The facility has been shuttered for more than three months while the FDA investigated whether powdered formula from the plant caused four babies to contract a rare bacterial illness. ...the FDA has not been able to definitively link its formula to the illnesses."
Well that was helpful. The facility was shuttered for three months and they found no link to the illnesses. So as not to turn up empty handed, the government inspectors claim they did find "unsanitary conditions" at the plant. More specifically, they found the common bacteria Cronobacter in the facility, after swabbing the space between some duct tape and the floor.
