Abbott has halted production once again at its Michigan plant that has been at the center of the nation’s months-long baby formula shortage crisis – this time for severe storms that flooded parts of the building.

According to a report from the Daily Mail, The facility in Sturgis, Michigan had just reopened on June 4 after being closed since February 2022 for a bacteria contamination that triggered a nationwide baby formula shortage. On Monday, severe thunderstorms and heavy rains swept through southwestern Michigan, flooding parts of the plant, forcing it to close once again.


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Abbott said in a statement on Wednesday night that it needs to assess damage and re-sanitize the factory, but did not indicate how much damage the factory sustained. Production for its EleCare specialty formula has been suspended, but the company insisted there is enough supply to meet demand until production is restarted.

‘Severe thunderstorms and heavy rains came through southwestern Michigan on Monday evening, resulting in high winds, hail, power outages and flood damage throughout the area,’ Abbott said in the statement. ‘These torrential storms produced significant rainfall in a short period of time — overwhelming the city’s storm water system in Sturgis, Mich., and resulting in flooding in parts of the city, including areas of our plant.

‘As a result, Abbott has stopped production of its EleCare specialty formula that was underway to assess damage caused by the storm and clean and re-sanitize the plant. We have informed FDA and will conduct comprehensive testing in conjunction with the independent third party to ensure the plant is safe to resume production. This will likely delay production and distribution of new product for a few weeks.’

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf responded to the shutdown issue in a post on Twitter Wednesday. ‘Today, we were made aware of the weather-related situation at Abbott’s Sturgis, Mich. facility. I personally spoke to the CEO tonight and we discussed our shared desire to get the facility up and running again as quickly as possible.’