(TheRedWire.com) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a criminal probe into the Abbott Laboratories plant in Michigan which had to be shut down last year. The shutting down of the lab led to a baby formula shortage across the nation.
Company spokesman Scott Stoffel told the Hill that the DOJ had informed them of the investigation and that Abbott was fully cooperating with the authorities. Abbott, one of the largest baby formula producers in the nation, had to recall thousands of baby formula powder products in February following the death of two infants from a rare infection. According to reports the infection was present in some of the products that arrived at the company’s Michigan plant.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that the plant was being operated under unsanitary conditions, which caused multiple strains of bacteria that are deadly to infants, to exist in the facility. The recalls caused even more strain on the supply chain, which was already harmed by the pandemic. The Abbott plant in Michigan began operating again in July.
This is not the first time that a particular plant has come under fire. A whistleblower had previously warned both Abbott and the FBA about the Michigan plant in February 2021. That was a year before the products had to be recalled and the plant had to be shut down.
At the time the complaint focused on how some of the production equipment lacked the necessary proof of safety for the creation and distribution of these products.
Abbott has maintained that neither its products nor the bacteria have been directly linked to the infections that led to the death of the two infants.
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