Abbott Laboratories, the company behind popular infant formula brand Similac, settled a lawsuit this week over claims alleging unsanitary conditions at its production sites, including at its facility in Casa Grande.
The lawsuit alleged that Abbott knowingly sold its formula to US government food assistance programs such as Medicaid and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) despite being aware of contamination risk at its facilities. Families enrolled in WIC account for over half of baby-formula consumption in the United States.
In 2022, Abbott recalled several of its products and temporarily shut down its facility in Sturgis, Michigan, after some infants fell ill and died of cronobacter infection after consuming formula produced there. The Sturgis complaints focused on haphazard repair of roof leaks and a lack of testing for dangerous bacteria.
The settlement also mentioned its Casa Grande facility, which is Casa Grande’s fourth-largest employer, employing about 750 workers.
According to the Associated Press, a 2023 inspection of the Casa Grande facility found numerous lapses in contamination safety protocols and detections of cronobacter. The AP also noted “nearly two dozen complaints of confirmed cronobacter, salmonella or other infections in infants who had been fed formula made at the plant.”
Abbott maintains that no unopened can of formula ever tested positive for cronobacter.
The Department of Justice hailed the settlement as a victory for American families.
“No company should be gambling on the health and safety of our Nation’s infants by allowing unsanitary conditions to persist at a facility manufacturing baby formula,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. in a statement.
Abbott agreed to pay over $384 million to settle the lawsuit. $69 million will go to the three whistleblowers who filed the qui tam lawsuit, and $36 million will go to specific states’ Medicaid and WIC claims. The rest will go to the federal government.
