$53M Awarded to Families of Babies Who Developed NEC From Similac Special Care Formula

Jury reconvenes on Friday to begin the process of determining whether to add potentially millions of dollars to the verdict in punitive damages to punish Abbott, Similac’s manufacturer.

A Chicago jury decided this week that Abbott Laboratories should pay four mothers a total of $53 million for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) injuries suffered by their children shortly after birth, which they say was caused by the company’s Similac infant formula.

The case is one of hundreds of Similac NEC lawsuits filed in state and federal courts nationwide, each involving similar claims alleging that Abbott endangers preterm infants, whose health is already fragile, by failing to warn the medical community and expecting mothers of the potential risks of feeding them cow’s milk-based infant formula products.

NEC is caused when harmful bacteria begin attacking the lining of a newborn’s intestines, which are often underdeveloped in premature infants, making them much more susceptible to the frequently deadly condition. The condition causes inflammation and necrosis and often requires emergency surgery to avoid death. However, these surgeries may leave the child with life-long injuries and health complications.

Over the years, numerous studies have warned that preterm infants face a higher risk of NEC when fed cow’s milk-based formula, which is often introduced shortly after birth in NICU settings. As a result, health experts have increasingly urged the use of breastfeeding, donated human milk and human milk fortifiers, citing their significant health benefits, including a substantially lower risk of NEC.

Similac NEC Lawsuit Verdict

The lawsuit was decided in Cook County Circuit Court this week. It was filed by four mothers: Antonia Mendez, Kara Sharpe, Casie Thompson and Eboni Williams, all of whom say their newborns suffered NEC injuries and complications. All of them also had preterm infants who were fed Similac Special Care 24 while in NICU.

After more than a month of trial, the jury took 10 hours to deliberate before reaching a verdict awarding the women $53 million, which includes $15 million for Mendez, $16 million for Sharpe, $7 million for Thomson and $15 million for Williams.

The awards granted by the jury only cover compensatory damages, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and past and future medical expenses. After the jury handed in the verdict, Judge Ehrlich determined there was enough evidence Abbott hid Similac NEC risks that plaintiffs could pursue punitive damages. He told the jurors they would return today to begin hearing arguments over whether Abbott should make additional punitive damages payments due to willful, wanton or reckless conduct in endangering infant lives for profit.

This is the third Similac NEC lawsuit to go to trial. The first, held in the summer of 2024, ended in a nearly $500 million verdict in Missouri state court. A similar trial, held in the same court in November of that year, ended in a defense verdict. However, that verdict was vacated last year and a new trial ordered, following a judge’s ruling that Abbott repeatedly introduced inadmissible evidence to the jury.

Abbott’s competitor, Mead Johnson, faces similar, though far fewer, Enfamil lawsuits over its own cow’s milk-based formula. In one of those cases, a jury awarded $60 million to a mother whose child died of NEC injuries shortly after birth.

Infant Formula NEC Lawsuits

In addition to the state court claims, there are nearly 800 Similac and Enfamil infant formula lawsuits consolidated in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois under U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, who is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

The judge has worked with parties for the last several years preparing a group of cases deemed to be representative of the litigation at large to serve as bellwether trials, which will give the parties more opportunities to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that would be common to all claims.

This will be the second batch of such lawsuits. The first federal infant formula NEC lawsuit was originally expected to begin in April 2025, but it and several other claims were thrown out due to lack of sufficient evidence. The second group of potential bellwether trials is now going through pretrial preparations, with the first expected to go before a jury this August.

Both that case and the other state trials are being closely watched to see what kinds of verdicts juries hand down and the amounts of payouts awarded to plaintiffs. The results are likely to significantly influence any infant formula NEC lawsuit settlement negotiations.

However, if the bellwether trials end with no settlement or other resolution, Judge Pallmeyer will likely begin remanding the cases back to their original federal courts for individual trial dates.

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