2026年9月14日 / 美国东部时间下午2:43 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
撰稿：
美国司法部周一宣布，婴儿配方奶粉生产商雅培实验室同意支付近3.85亿美元，以解决与司法部及多个州之间的民事虚假申报法案案件，此案源于其密歇根州一家粉状婴儿配方奶粉工厂出现的克罗诺杆菌污染事件。
据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻此前报道，今年早些时候，司法部已下令联邦检察官终止并行的刑事调查。
联邦检察官最初曾试图提起重罪指控，并得到了司法部刑事司助理部长泰森·杜瓦的支持，但司法部高层未允许该案推进。
司法部一名高级官员今年2月告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，司法部认为，以民事虚假申报法案达成和解是“实现追责、威慑和保护公众的最佳途径”。
这起民事虚假申报法案案件指控，该公司导致美国政府项目采购了粉状婴儿配方奶粉，而政府称这些产品的生产环境“使产品面临不可接受的微生物污染风险，严重影响了产品的可靠性、质量和安全”。
“任何公司都不应放任生产婴儿配方奶粉的工厂存在不卫生状况，拿我国婴儿的健康和安全冒险，”司法部副部长斯坦利·伍德沃德在一份声明中说道。
雅培实验室在一份声明中表示，与政府达成的和解“并不代表认定该公司存在过错或责任”。
该公司称：“正如政府此前表明的那样，它已就此案终止了刑事调查”，并补充称，在2022年召回事件发生时，对受影响婴儿家中未开封的配方奶粉产品进行的政府监管机构检测结果均未检出阪崎克罗诺杆菌。
哥伦比亚广播公司此前曾报道，与雅培实验室达成民事和解并终止并行刑事调查的决定，是近几个月来联邦《食品、药品和化妆品法案》下一系列涉及公共健康与安全的企业案件中的一例——这些案件近期均被司法部高层从轻处理、驳回或放弃支持。
今年早些时候，司法部同意阿里巴巴不起诉协议并支付6亿美元罚款，尽管负责该案的检察官认为，有证据表明该公司在八年时间里未能阻止危险药物、化学品和压片机销往美国客户，从而应承担重罪责任。
今年7月，加利福尼亚州参议员亚当·希夫发起国会调查，针对雅培实验室刑事案的终止决定展开质询。
“如果起诉涉及早产儿受伤或死亡风险的案件不是优先执法事项，我不禁要问，司法部究竟将哪些事项视为值得追究的优先任务，”希夫在写给司法部长托德·布兰奇的信中写道。
2022年，在消费者投诉密歇根州斯特吉斯市雅培营养公司的产品引发婴儿患病后，雅培实验室召回了包括Similac在内的多款热门粉状配方奶粉品牌。
司法部表示，该公司未采取措施修复屋顶漏水问题，反而采取“临时解决方案”，这仍使产品面临微生物污染风险。
司法部还称，该公司“故意不进行细菌增长检测，以避免获得显示污染的阳性检测结果”，并且在2019年和2022年的监管检查中，当部分检测显示存在微量污染证据时，该公司未向美国食品药品监督管理局通报这些结果。
Baby formula maker Abbott Labs to pay nearly $385 million to settle case over bacterial contamination at Michigan plant
September 14, 2026 / 2:43 PM EDT / CBS News
By
Baby formula maker Abbott Laboratories agreed to pay nearly $385 million to resolve a civil False Claims Act case with the Justice Department and some states stemming from a Cronobacter bacterial contamination at one of its plants in Michigan that manufactures powdered baby formula, the department announced on Monday.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to close a parallel criminal investigation, CBS News previously reported.
Federal prosecutors originally tried to pursue felony charges and had the support of Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, but senior DOJ leadership would not allow the case to proceed.
A senior DOJ official told CBS News in February that the department felt that a civil False Claims Act resolution was “the best mechanism to achieve accountability, deterrence and protection of the public” in the matter.
The civil False Claims Act case alleged that the company caused government programs to purchase powdered infant formula alleged by the government to have been made “in an environment that put the products at unacceptable risk of microorganism contamination and significantly impacted the products’ reliability, quality, and safety.”
“No company should be gambling on the health and safety of our nation’s infants by allowing unsanitary conditions to persist at a facility manufacturing baby formula,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward in a statement.
The company said the settlement with the government “does not represent any finding of fault or liability,” according to a statement.
“As the government has previously indicated, it has closed its criminal investigation on this matter,” the company said, adding that tests conducted by government regulators of unopened formula products from the homes of the infants under investigation at the time of the 2022 recall were negative for Cronobacter sakazakii.
The decision to pursue a civil settlement with Abbott Labs and close the parallel criminal case marks one example in a string of corporate cases involving public health and safety under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act that have been softened, dismissed or lost support from senior Justice Department leaders in recent months, CBS previously reported.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department allowed Alibaba to enter into a nonprosecution agreement and pay $600 million, even though prosecutors on the case believed they had evidence the company was liable for felonies by failing to prevent dangerous drugs, chemicals and pill presses from being sold to American customers over an eight-year period.
In July, California Senator Adam Schiff launched a congressional inquiry into the closure of the Abbott Labs criminal case.
“If prosecuting cases involving the risk of injuries or death to premature infants are not a priority enforcement matter, I have questions about what priorities the DOJ considers worthy of pursuing,” Schiff wrote in a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche.
In 2022, Abbott Laboratories recalled several of its popular powdered formula brands, including Similac, after consumers complained about infant illness related to products from Abbott Nutrition, in Sturgis, Michigan.
The Justice Department said the company had failed to take steps to fix roof leaks, resorting instead to “temporary solutions” that still left its products at risk for microorganism contamination.
The department also said that the company “intentionally did not test for bacterial growth to avoid obtaining positive test results showing contamination” and that in some cases where testing showed evidence of micro contamination, it failed to disclose those results to the Food and Drug Administration during inspections in 2019 and 2022.
发表回复