Connecticut joined 39 other states and the federal government in a settlement requiring Abbott Laboratories to pay over $384 million to resolve allegations the company caused false claims to be submitted to federal and state programs over noncompliant powder infant formula manufacturing.

Abbott will pay $348,700,868 to the United States and $35,491,288 to participating states for claims related to their Medicaid programs, with Connecticut's Medicaid program receiving $936,629.70. The settlement resolves allegations that between 2018 and 2022, Abbott manufactured infant formula and nutritional therapy products at its Sturgis, Michigan, and Casa Grande, Arizona, facilities without meeting federal and state requirements, including failing to maintain manufacturing equipment and control water that increased microorganism contamination risk.

Attorney General William Tong said, "There are few things more sensitive than the safety of infant formula. For years, Abbott produced infant formula in inadequate facilities that significantly imperiled the reliability, safety and quality of its formula. And when those failures led to contamination, they failed to disclose it. Today we are holding the company accountable with a $384 million settlement. I am grateful to the whistleblowers who brought this case forward, and to the bipartisan team of attorneys general who led this effort alongside Connecticut."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds and regulates the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides nutritional support including infant formula to eligible participants; more than half of all infant formula purchased in the United States is paid for with federal funds through WIC.