A federal judge has shelved attempts by an untold number of potential plaintiffs to press a class action lawsuit against Abbott Labs over alleged contamination in Similac brand baby formula, saying the plaintiffs haven’t pressed any real claims of harm and are only seeking to get paid, despite ultimately purchasing safe formula for their children.
Abbott will continue to face a host of other claims, including from those asserting the company violated state consumer fraud laws. But in this instance, Kennelly said he could not allow claims to continue that were based solely on claims of economic loss.
Essentially, Kennelly said, lawsuits against Abbott cannot continue if plaintiffs solely allege they would not have purchased Similac baby formula if they had known there was a chance the formula they were buying could be contaminated by Salmonella or other kinds of potentially dangerous bacteria.
“… None of the plaintiffs have experienced any symptoms even though all but one stopped purchasing Abbott's formula over a year ago,” Kennelly wrote. “On this backdrop, there is no plausible inference that the plaintiffs are at risk of latent effects from bacterial contamination.
“In short, the plaintiffs received exactly what they say they bargained for: Safe infant formula.”
For over a year, Abbott has faced a flurry of lawsuits from across the country over claims some of its baby formula could contain unacceptable amounts of potentially harmful bacteria contamination.
The allegations centered on findings from inspections conducted by federal food safety regulators, who detected the bacteria in formula production areas at Abbott’s plant in Sturgis, Michigan.
According to published reports and Kennelly’s narrative in his May 22 decision, regulators allegedly observed unsanitary and unsafe conditions at the Sturgis plant.
The findings resulted in an order from the Food and Drug Administration to shut down operations at the plant in 2022.
As Abbott’s infant formula operations account for nearly half of all formula produced in the U.S., the shutdown exacerbated a formula shortage, leading to empty shelves in many stores throughout the U.S., higher prices and headaches for parents of infants throughout the country who rely on infant formula to feed their babies.
As with many such regulatory findings, lawsuits quickly followed, as trial lawyers sought paydays from the company for allegedly misleading parents and other buyers of formula and endangering children.
The lawsuits were eventually consolidated before Judge Kennelly in Chicago federal court, because Abbott is based in Chicago’s suburbs.
Much of the litigation is continuing against Abbott, including over claims the company also misled consumers over the presence of so-called heavy metals, including lead and mercury, in its infant formulas, including Similac.
However, while those claims can continue, Kennelly said parents seeking compensation from Abbott for allegedly misleading them over bacterial contamination cannot, if they can’t also demonstrate they or their children were actually harmed in some way.
Kennelly noted no evidence has yet been presented to show how much infant formula made at the Sturgis plant may have been sold that actually contained dangerous bacterial contamination.
He said this makes these complaints different from other kinds of lawsuits which may claim food products contain known carcinogens or other kinds of harmful chemicals.
“Thus, ‘it is pure speculation to say the particular [products] sold to the consumers were tainted by [bacteria], while it is quite plausible [Abbott] sold the consumers exactly what was promised,’” Kennelly wrote.
Kennelly ordered those complaints dismissed for lack of standing.
The dismissed plaintiffs have been represented in the consolidated action by attorney Stacy K Hauer, and others with the firms of Johnson Becker, of Minneapolis; Aylstock Witkin Kreis & Overholtz, of Pensacola, Florida; Sommers Schwartz, of Southfield, Michigan; and Bradley Grombacher, of Westlake Village, California.
Abbott has been represented by attorney Michael A. Glick and others with the firm of Kirklan & Ellis, of Chicago and Washington, D.C.