Justice Department investigating Abbott baby formula factory
NEW YORK — The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the Abbott Laboratories infant formula plant in Michigan that was shut down for months last year due to contamination, the company confirmed.
The factory’s closure last February was a key cause of a nationwide baby formula shortage that forced parents to seek formula from food banks, friends and doctor’s offices. Production restarted in June.
The Justice Department has informed Abbott of its investigation and the company is “cooperating fully,” Abbott spokesperson Scott Stoffel said via email. He declined to provide further details.
The investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said the Justice Department’s consumer protection branch is looking into conduct at the Sturgis, Michigan, plant that led to its shutdown.
Abbott closed the factory after the Food and Drug Administration began investigating four bacterial infections among infants who consumed powdered formula from the plant. Inspectors uncovered several violations at the plant, including bacterial contamination, a leaky roof and lax safety protocols. But Abbott has stated that its products have not been directly linked to the infections, which involved different bacterial strains.
Abbott is one of just four companies that produce 90% of U.S. formula, and its February recall of several leading brands, including Similac, squeezed supplies that had already been strained by supply chain disruptions and stockpiling during COVID-19 shutdowns.
The shortage was especially acute for children with allergies, digestive problems and metabolic disorders who rely on specialty formulas. The Abbott factory is the only source of many of those products.
The FDA has faced intense criticism for taking months to close the plant and then negotiate its reopening.
Ex-Theranos CEO: Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk and shouldn’t be allowed to stay out of prison while she appeals her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors, federal prosecutors said in a motion filed in federal court in Northern California.
According to court documents from Thursday, Holmes had a one-way plane ticket to Mexico booked for Jan. 26, 2022, three weeks after being convicted by a jury on four counts of fraud and conspiracy.
Holmes, who was CEO of Theranos during the company’s turbulent 15year history, was convicted in a scheme that revolved around the company’s claims to have developed a medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood. But the technology never worked, and the claims were false.
Holmes booked the flight without a scheduled return trip and only canceled it after prosecutors contacted Holmes’ attorneys about the “unauthorized flight,” prosecutors said.
In a Jan. 23, 2022, email responding to prosecutors’ concerns about the planned trip, Holmes’ attorneys said she had booked it before the jury’s verdict to attend a wedding in Mexico.
Holmes is scheduled to return to court on March 17 for a hearing on her request to stay out of prison while she appeals her conviction.
Brazil uprising: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired Brazil’s army chief Saturday just days after the leftist leader openly said that some military members allowed the Jan. 8 uprising in the capital by far-right protesters.
The official website of the Brazilian armed forces said Gen. Julio Cesar de Arruda had been removed as head of the army. He was replaced by Gen. Tomas Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, who was head of the Southeast Military Command.
In recent weeks, Lula targeted the military with criticism after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed through government buildings and destroyed public property in an attempt to keep Bolsonaro in office.
The uprising underlined the polarization in Brazil between the left and the right.
Lula said several times in public that there were definitely people in the army who allowed the rioting to
occur, though he never cited Arruda.
Haiti gang violence: One of Haiti’s gangs stormed a key part of the capital, Port-AuPrince, and battled with police throughout the day, leaving at least three officers dead.
The violence Friday was the latest episode of lawlessness that has torn through the Caribbean nation.
A police patrol was ambushed by gang gunmen Friday morning, Lionel Lazarre, head of the National Union for Haitian Police, said Saturday. The officers called for backup but were angered because reinforcements never arrived, he said.
At least three officers died in the violence, one was missing and one was treated at a hospital for bullet wounds, police confirmed late Friday.
Fighting continued throughout Friday and tensions remained high Saturday.
The United Nations estimates 60% of Haiti’s capital
is controlled by gangs, but many residents say gang warfare has expanded past the fringes and into most of the city.
Turkey on Saturday canceled a planned visit by Sweden’s defense minister in response to anti-Turkish protests that increased tension between the two countries as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join NATO.
A far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Quran, Islam’s holy book.
A separate pro-Kurdish demonstration was held later Saturday in the Swedish capital.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the visit scheduled for Friday by his Swedish counterpart Pal Jonson no longer held “any importance or point” because Sweden continued to allow “disgusting” demonstrations against
Turkey-Sweden rift:
Turkey.
Jonson tweeted that he had met Akar last Friday in Ramstein, Germany, where they “agreed to postpone” the meeting in Ankara.
Astronaut Aldrin weds:
Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin announced on Facebook that he has married his “longtime love” in a small ceremony in Los Angeles.
Aldrin, who made history along with Neil Armstrong as the first humans to set foot on the surface of the moon during 1969’s Apollo 11 mission, said the wedding took place on Friday, which was his 93rd birthday.
“I am pleased to announce that my longtime love and partner, Dr. Anca V Faur, and I have tied the knot. We were joined in holy matrimony in a small private ceremony in Los Angeles, and are as excited as eloping teenagers,” he wrote.
The post received 53,000 Facebook “likes” and “loves” by Saturday and was accompanied by several photos of the newlyweds.