July 6, 2026
Formula for outrage
DOJ Closing Abbott Labs Case Spurs Wider Corporate Crime Retreat
Baby formula case dropped, and commenters are absolutely losing it
TLDR: The Justice Department reportedly dropped its criminal case against Abbott over contaminated baby formula and is leaning toward a civil money deal instead. Commenters erupted, accusing the government of going soft on corporate wrongdoing and arguing that fines are nowhere near enough when babies are involved.
The legal news is grim, but the comment section is on fire. The Justice Department reportedly shut down a long-running criminal case against Abbott over contaminated baby formula tied to a 2022 bacteria outbreak, and online readers reacted like they’d just watched the villain walk out of court in slow motion. Officials say a big money settlement is still coming and that health-and-safety laws will still be enforced. Commenters? They are very much not soothed by that message.
The loudest mood is pure outrage. One person flatly called the administration "pro-crime," while others argued that corporate leaders, not just shareholders, should face real personal consequences when products linked to infant illness and deaths are involved. That quickly escalated into the thread’s hottest moral brawl: are fines just a cost of doing business, and should executives ever face extreme punishment? Yes, it got that dark. Another lane of anger focused on politics, with one commenter fuming that the opposition party somehow can’t turn "they let a company get away with contaminating baby formula" into a bigger scandal.
And then there was the internet doing what it does best: going nuclear with comparisons and shock-value one-liners. A commenter invoked Communist China for maximum dramatic effect, the kind of over-the-top remark that makes a thread feel less like policy debate and more like a digital food fight. The result? Less "inside baseball," more public trust meltdown.
Key Points
- •DOJ leaders reportedly shut down a criminal case against Abbott Laboratories over contaminated baby formula and, according to people familiar, also moved to close or slow other food and drug industry probes.
- •The Abbott matter stemmed from a 2022 bacteria outbreak at the company’s Michigan powder formula plant that was accused of contributing to infant deaths and illnesses.
- •People familiar said DOJ Criminal Division head Tysen Duva sought felony and Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act charges, but the deputy attorney general’s office instead favored a civil resolution under the False Claims Act.
- •A senior DOJ official said the department remains committed to health and safety enforcement and has an agreement in principle with Abbott that includes a significant monetary payment.
- •The article says a 2025 DOJ reorganization reduced the autonomy of prosecutors focused on consumer protection and contributed to a broader scale-back in consumer health enforcement.