Abbott settles infant formula claims for $385 million

Abbott reached an agreement on 14 September 2026 to resolve an investigation and lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice, alongside claims filed by relators and attorneys general of several states. The litigation stemmed from the company's manufacturing processes and its 2022 recall of powdered infant formula produced at its plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

The company will pay $385 million to resolve the claims. The settlement does not represent any finding of fault or liability against Abbott, and the United States government has closed its related criminal investigation.

Abbott stated that no unopened, distributed infant formulas have ever tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii or Salmonella Newport. Regulatory evaluations by the FDA in March 2022 on unopened products from the homes of investigated infants returned negative results, and retained batch samples from the Sturgis facility also tested negative.

The CDC concluded that there was no definitive link between the Sturgis facility and the investigated infant illnesses, noting that genetic sequencing from available samples did not match plant strains or each other.