Defense Verdict Returned in NEC Lawsuit Against Abbott, Mead Johnson in Missouri State Court

A Missouri jury has found that the makers of Similac and Enfamil are not liable for a newborn’s development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), in the third trial involving claims that Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson have failed to warn families that their infant formula products may increase the risk of devastating injuries for premature babies.

The defense verdict was returned after a five week trial involving a NEC lawsuit brought by Elizabeth Whitfield, which was being closely watched, since the two prior cases to go before juries resulted in combined judgments of more than $555 million against the two manufacturers.

NEC is a severe gastrointestinal disease that occurs when harmful bacteria breaches the walls of the intestines, causing portions of the tissue to become inflamed or die. Although cow’s milk-based formulas like Similac and Enfamil have been marketed for decades as safe to use among premature infants, there is now increasing evidence that these vulnerable children face an unreasonable risk of developing NEC from these kinds of formulas, as opposed to a mother’s breast milk or human donor milk.

These three trials come as about 1,000 other Similac lawsuits and Enfamil lawsuits continue to move forward in state and federal courts nationwide, all involving similar allegations that the manufacturers withheld critical information from families and the medical community for decades.

Whitfield’s lawsuit sought damages for injuries experienced by her son, who was born in 2017 and developed NEC after being fed Abbott Laboratories’ Similac and Mead Johnson’s Enfamil formulas while still in the hospital. As a result, the child still suffers severe complications, including a shortened bowel, which makes absorbing nutrients more difficult.

After considering evidence presented in the case, a St. Louis, Missouri jury handed down a defense verdict on Thursday, indicating that the two companies should not be held responsible for the injuries.

The manufacturers argued at trial that the child was born extremely ill, and at under 28 weeks gestation, indicating that other health problems and antibiotic treatments he received for anemia could have contributed to his development of NEC.

The defense verdict comes after two prior state court juries came to very different conclusions in cases that went to trial earlier this year.

In March 2024, an Illinois jury ordered Mead Johnson to pay $60 million in damages in an Enfamil lawsuit brought by Jasmine Watson. Following over four weeks of testimony, it took the jury only four hours to reach a verdict, awarding $25 million more in damages than Watson’s attorneys had asked for.

In July 2024, a separate jury in St. Louis ordered Abbott Laboratories to pay $495 million in a Similac lawsuit, including a massive punitive damages award intended to punish the manufacturer for disregarding the health and safety of premature infants and families.

November 2024 Infant Formula NEC Lawsuits Update

The state court trial comes as hundreds of other claims continue to move forward in the federal court system, where they have been centralized as part of a federal MDL (multidistrict litigation) in the Northern District of Illinois since 2022.

As part of the management of the federal litigation, U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer previously established a “bellwether” program, where a group of representative claims have been selected for a series of early trial dates, which are designed to help the parties gauge how juries will respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

The parties selected four baby formula NEC lawsuit bellwether candidates in October 2023, and have been preparing each of the claims for trial over the past year. The first MDL trial dates for the NEC lawsuits are expected to begin in May 2025, and will be spaced about 12 weeks apart.

While the outcomes of these early trial dates do not have any binding impact on lawsuits being pursued by other families, the average lawsuit payouts may have a substantial impact on the amount that Abbott and Mead Johnson could be required to pay in NEC settlements to avoid hundreds of additional claims going before juries.