A Pensacola mom has filed a lawsuit against baby formula company Abbott Laboratories, Inc. Kelli Green said that her newborn daughter caught Salmonella from the company's contaminated formula and was hospitalized, according to the mom's attorney.
Green claimed that Abbott made her daughter sick and that one of the company's sealed baby formula containers had a bug in it. Green's lawsuit alleged that after her daughter drank the formula, she started to experience symptoms of Salmonella, including severe diaper rash, loss of appetite, and bloody stool.
According to Green, her daughter has ongoing ear issues because of it, which led to her hospitalization in June 2022. The physician was unable to treat the ear problems of Green's young girl due to the Salmonella infection, according to WKRG. She alleged in the lawsuit that Abbott knew their product was contaminated and they continued to sell it.
Many lawsuits filed against Abbott since company recalled baby formula
Green said that she entrusted Abbott to produce safe baby formula that would help her infant grow and remain as healthy as she was the day she was born. What happened instead, according to Green, is that she and countless other American families was burdened with not only the heartache and helplessness that comes along with having a sick child but overwhelming anger at how Abbott deceived their families and profited from formula contaminated by deadly bacteria.
Many lawsuits have been filed against Abbott after they recalled baby formula and had to shut down their plant in Sturgis, Michigan, which contributed to the baby formula shortage that occurred in the United States.
A whistleblower claimed in February 2021 that Abbott had purposely covered up dirty and dangerous conditions by producing fake records and hiding information from inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to CNN.
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Abbott is one of the four companies in the United States controlling roughly 90 percent of the multibillion-dollar infant formula market. Abbott recalled baby formula products in February after a bacterial contamination was found in infants who consumed the formula.
Two infants died and two became sick after consuming formula manufactured at the Michigan plant, though Abbott states their illnesses did not come from its products. The plant closure contributed to a nationwide shortage of baby formula that has prompted several efforts from the Biden administration, including working to import formula from other countries and using the Defense Production Act to speed up formula production.
The Michigan facility, which is also known for manufacturing Abbott's leading brand Similac, is the company's largest baby formula facility in the United States. After being closed for months, the plant reopened on June 4 but was hit by flooding just nine days later.
Baby formula production resumed at the Michigan factory on July 1 after heavy rains forced the plant to temporarily shut down in mid-June, according to NPR.
