Attorney General James Secures Over $9 Million for New York from Abbott Laboratories for Manufacturing Potentially Unsafe Baby Formula
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that baby formula manufacturer Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) will pay more than $384 million to states and the federal government, including more than $9.3 million to New York. Attorney General James and a coalition of 39 other attorneys general sued Abbott in 2025, alleging that the company failed to ensure its formula products were safe. The lawsuit alleged that from January 2018 through December 2022, Abbott failed to maintain proper safety standards in its manufacturing facilities, putting its baby formula products at risk of contamination, while misleading safety inspectors about the quality of its products. During this time, Abbott sold baby formula products that were purchased with public assistance funding from Medicaid and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). As a result, state and federal funds were used to purchase potentially contaminated formula that failed to comply with Medicaid and WIC requirements. Abbott will pay more than $348 million to the federal government and more than $35 million to the coalition of states, including more than $9.3 million to New York.
“Parents should never have to worry about whether the baby formula they buy for their children is contaminated with dangerous bacteria,” said Attorney General James. “Abbott prioritized profits over people when it produced and sold baby formula in potentially unsafe conditions. My office will continue to go after anyone who puts families at risk with dangerous products and get justice for New Yorkers.”
In their lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition alleged that, between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2022, the products Abbott manufactured at its facilities in Sturgis, Michigan and Casa Grande, Arizona, were at high risk of contamination. In 2022, Abbott closed its Sturgis facility and issued a recall, causing a nationwide baby formula shortage due to contaminated products.
The lawsuit alleged that Abbott failed to maintain its manufacturing equipment, failed to control the presence of water that put the products at increased risk of microorganism contamination, and in certain cases, failed to disclose test results indicating contamination when responding to requests from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The lawsuit also alleged that Abbott’s practices led to WIC and state Medicaid funds being spent on infant formula and nutritional products that did not meet legal requirements for product safety. As a result of Abbott’s alleged misconduct, vulnerable New Yorkers and families throughout the country were put at risk with potentially dangerous baby formula that they purchased with the help of Medicaid and WIC.
As part of a settlement with the coalition of states and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Abbott Laboratories will pay $348,700,868 to the federal government and $35,491,288 to the states. More than $9.3 million will go to the New York State Medicaid Program, of which $5.3 million will go directly to New York state.
For the coalition of states, the settlement was led by Attorney General James and the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, and Tennessee. Joining the settlement are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
For New York, the investigation was conducted by Principal Auditor-Investigator Songlin Mo and Principal Auditor-Investigator Colin Ware, under the supervision of Civil Enforcement Chief Auditor Stacey Millis. The settlement was handled by Special Assistant Attorney General Tiffany Castleman-Smith of the Civil Enforcement Division, under the supervision of Deputy Chiefs Diana Elkind and Konrad Payne. The Civil Enforcement Division is led by Chief Alee Scott. The Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) is led by Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Thomas O’Hanlon. The Division for Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux.
Reporting Medicaid Provider Fraud: MFCU defends the public by addressing Medicaid provider fraud and protecting nursing home residents from abuse and neglect. If an individual believes they have information about Medicaid provider fraud or about an incident of abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident, they can file a confidential complaint online or call the MFCU hotline at (800) 771-7755. If the situation is an emergency, please call 911.
New York MFCU’s total funding for federal fiscal year (FY) 2026 is $70,793,651. Of that total, 75 percent, or $53,095,240, is awarded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $17,698,411 for FY 2026, is funded by New York State.
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