RALEIGH - North Carolina will receive $216,593.82 in restitution and recoveries through a settlement with Abbott Laboratories over infant formula purchased by government programs, Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Sept. 21.
The state’s recovery is part of a federal and multistate agreement totaling nearly $385 million. It resolves allegations about manufacturing conditions and government payments for products tied to the company’s 2022 formula recall.
The U.S. Justice Department said the agreement covers alleged false claims submitted to federal and state programs from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2022. The allegations involved Abbott’s facilities in Sturgis, Michigan, and Casa Grande, Arizona.
Federal officials alleged Abbott manufactured products in conditions that created an unacceptable contamination risk and failed to disclose some positive microorganism test results to regulators. Those are allegations resolved by the settlement, not findings of liability.
Of the $384,999,040 total, about $348.7 million goes to the federal government and $36.3 million to participating states for claims involving Medicaid and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC.
Jackson’s office said North Carolina joined 39 other states and the federal government in resolving the Medicaid fraud allegations. The state announcement identified North Carolina’s payment as restitution and recoveries; it did not announce a separate consumer claims process.
Abbott said the agreement does not represent a finding of fault or liability. The company also said no unopened, distributed Abbott infant formula had tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii, the bacterium investigated during the recall.
In its Sept. 14 statement, Abbott said regulators’ tests of unopened products from the affected infants’ homes were negative. The company said the government had closed its related criminal investigation.
For North Carolina, the announced action recovers money through enforcement involving public benefit programs. It does not establish that every recalled product was contaminated or that Abbott’s formula caused a particular child’s illness.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of Justice, Sept. 21
- U.S. Department of Justice, Sept. 14
- Abbott statement, Sept. 14
Photo Credit: DiscoA340 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. North Carolina Department of Justice building, Raleigh; photographed Sept. 10, 2022. Cropped; adaptation distributed under CC BY-SA 4.0. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.