Similac Formula NEC Lawsuits Selected for Bellwether Trials in Aug. 2026, Nov. 2026 and Feb. 2027

Second wave of federal bellwether trials will move forward after state court juries have already ordered manufacturers to pay hundreds of millions in damages to families of infants who developed NEC from infant formula.

A federal judge has selected three Similac formula necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) lawsuits to go to trial over the next 18 months, which are designed to help lawyers get a sense of how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that may be repeated throughout hundreds of similar claims being pursued by families of premature infants who developed the devastating intestinal condition.

Abbott Laboratories and its competitor, Mead Johnson, face more than 750 Similac lawsuits and Enfamil lawsuits that have been filed in federal courts nationwide. Each claim raises similar allegations that the baby formula manufacturers failed to disclose that their products may cause premature infants to develop NEC, a potentially deadly condition that occurs when harmful bacteria infiltrate the walls of a newborn’s intestines, causing portions of the tissue to become inflamed or die.

Often, infants who develop the condition require emergency surgery while still in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after birth, and many do not survive the disease.

Parents, caregivers and grown survivors say the manufacturers have ignored years of scientific evidence pointing to increased NEC risks associated with cow’s milk-based formula products, particularly for children born prematurely, when compared to infants fed human breast milk. The lawsuits say that, despite that evidence, Abbott and Mead Johnson continue to promote Similac and Enfamil for use among vulnerable preemies, while withholding critical warnings and safety information from families and hospitals that could have prevented life-long injuries.

Given facts and laws common throughout the litigation, all federal NEC infant formula lawsuits have been consolidated in the Northern District of Illinois for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings under U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, as part of a federal MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

Over the past few years, Judge Pallmeyer has been working with the parties to prepare a series of bellwether trials designed to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. The first federal NEC infant formula bellwether trials were initially expected to begin in April 2025. However, those trials were canceled after the judge determined that the plaintiffs lacked sufficient evidence to support their claims.

As a result, the court moved forward with a second wave of bellwether selections, each of which involve infants given Similac products.

Similac Second-Wave Bellwether Trial Selections

Early last month, Judge Pallmeyer called for the parties to propose a schedule for the second wave of bellwether cases, indicating that the first claims should be ready for trial to begin in August 2026.

The judge announced the three cases selected for the second bellwether trial wave in a case management order (PDF) issued on October 28. In all three cases, Abbott, the manufacturer of Similac, is the sole defendant.

The selections include a Similac complaint filed by Nicole Cresap and Michael Hayes (PDF) of New Jersey, in April 2022, after their premature child died of an acute abdominal crisis caused by NEC, suffering multi-system organ failure after being fed Similac Special Care and Similac Human Milk Fortifier in the hospital.

The second selection was filed in December 2021 by Mary Kelton (PDF) of California, whose daughter, Sophie Bowden, suffered permanent NEC injuries after being fed Similac in 2019 after being born prematurely. The third case involves another wrongful death claim by Nichole McCarthy (PDF) whose child, Peyton, was born in 2012 and died in 2019 due to NEC injuries. His mother blames his death on the use of Similac shortly after he was born.

Plaintiffs will be allowed to select which of the claims will be first to go to trial, and Abbott will be allowed to select the second. The remaining case will automatically become the third second-wave bellwether trial.

According to the order, the first of the second-wave Similac bellwether trials will begin on August 3, 2026; the second on November 2, 2026; while the third trial will be held on February 1, 2027.

These bellwether trials will be closely watched, as any jury awards are likely to influence how much Abbott and Mead Johnson may need to pay in NEC infant formula lawsuits settlements to resolve the litigation. If no settlement is reached after the bellwether trials, Judge Pallmeyer could start remanding each individual claim back to the U.S. District Courts where it originated for separate trial dates.

Some trials have already been held at the state level, resulting in hundreds of millions in verdicts for plaintiffs. 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 sought.

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. A third trial last November in Missouri state court ended in a defense verdict.