When most people gaze at a newborn child, they see a bundle of joy. The makers of infant formula see something else: a bundle of loot. That's the argument of industry critics who claim that the leaders of the $1.5 billion formula business have unfairly boosted their prices 150% during the 1980s. Last week the state of Florida filed a lawsuit in federal court against the top U.S. formula makers: Abbott Laboratories (maker of Similac), American Home Products (Nursoy) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (Enfamil). The civil suit accuses the companies of fixing and inflating formula prices.
Antitrust accusations have dogged the firms...