Abbott Laboratories announced Tuesday that its 2002 earnings outlook would be significantly lower than expected due to problems at one of the pharmaceutical maker's manufacturing plants and lower sales of its antiobesity drug Meridia. Abbott expects its earnings to drop by 17 cents a share because of negative publicity the drug maker has received in the last few months.

In March, Italy's Pharmaceutical Commission suspended the sale of Meridia after fifty "adverse events" were linked to the drug. Italian medical officials said Meridia's "beneficial effects" would have to be reevaluated before the suspension would be lifted. That same month, interest group Public Citizen asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately ban the drug, blaming it for twenty-nine deaths and hundreds of cases of serious side effects.

In May, the FDA found that Abbott's Lake County, Illinois facility did not meet quality and safety standards.