July 8 – Abbott, the maker of Similac baby formula, will face trial on Monday over allegations that its formula for preterm infants used in neonatal intensive care units causes a potentially deadly bowel disease. This is the second trial among hundreds of similar lawsuits in the United States.
Lawyers for Abbott and Illinois resident Margo Gill will present their opening statements to jurors in St. Louis, Missouri. The trial is expected to continue for most of the month. Gill claims that her premature infant developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after being fed Abbott’s products for premature babies.
NEC causes the death of bowel tissue and mainly affects newborns, with a fatality rate between 15% and 40%. Although Gill’s child survived, they suffer from long-term health issues, according to the lawsuit.
The case, like all NEC lawsuits, involves formula and products used to fortify mother’s milk given to infants in hospitals, not regular formula sold in stores.
“Specialized formulas and fortifiers, like the one in this case, are considered part of the standard of care by the medical community and, along with human milk, are the only available options to feed premature infants,” Abbott stated.
The company argued that Gill’s child “suffered from a traumatic brain injury in utero and at birth, long before she was fed any Abbott products,” and that “no one is to blame” for her condition.
Nearly 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Abbott and Enfamil formula maker Reckitt Benckiser in federal or state courts. These lawsuits claim that cow’s milk-based formula products for premature infants caused NEC. More than 500 cases are centralized in an Illinois federal court, with others pending in Illinois, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.
The lawsuits assert that the companies failed to warn that infants given their products are at greater risk of NEC compared to those who are breast-fed or given donor milk or human milk-derived formula.
