UNDER SCRUTINY

FDA Probing Death of Another Baby Who Consumed Abbott Formula

The agency said the death occurred in January but it only received the complaint this month.

Beleaguered Abbott Laboratories is under fire again with news that the Food and Drug Administration is looking into a new complaint of a baby’s death after consuming its baby formula. The child died in January, according to The Wall Street Journal, but the FDA says it received a consumer complaint about it on June 10 and has launched an investigation that is in its early stages. A spokesman for Abbott told the Journal there was no evidence linking the death to the company’s formulas, which include Similac. The company is already under heavy criticism from both sides of the aisle for what lawmakers see as its slow response to problems at its plant in Sturgis, Michigan, which led to a shutdown and a worsening baby formula shortage across the country. The FDA earlier announced that two babies had died among four who contracted a bacterial infection after consuming formula made at the plant.