Similac NEC Lawsuit Payout Increased by $17M in Punitive Damages

Jurors took less than a day to determine Abbott acted with wanton and reckless disregard for the lives of newly born preterm infants.

A Chicago jury added $17 million in punitive damages to a $53 million Similac necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) lawsuit trial verdict, bringing the total payout to $70 million for four mothers who say their newborns were injured after being fed the cow’s milk-based formula.

The lawsuit was originally filed by Antonia Mendez, Kara Sharpe, Casie Thompson and Eboni Williams, who all allege that their preterm infants were fed Similac Special Care 24 infant formula while still in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). All four of the babies developed NEC injuries and complications.

NEC is a condition where harmful bacteria attack the lining of a newborn’s intestines, causing inflammation and necrosis, often requiring emergency surgery and frequently ending in death. Preterm infants are particularly vulnerable to NEC due to the underdevelopment of their gastrointestinal system and, if they survive, often suffer life-long injuries and health complications.

The claims are just a few of several hundred infant formula NEC lawsuits filed in both state and federal courts nationwide. The litigation comes in the wake of mounting evidence that preterm infants face a higher risk of NEC from cow’s milk-based formula when compared to human milk and human milk fortifiers. 

All of the cases involve similar allegations that Abbott Laboratories, the makers of Similac, and Mead Johnson, the manufacturer of Enfamil, have failed to warn parents and the medical community about potential NEC risks from their formulas and continue to promote the products as safe for preterm infants.

Similac Jury Awards Punitive Damages

Last Thursday, a jury in Cook County Circuit Court ordered Abbott to pay the four mothers $53 million in compensatory damages following a trial that lasted more than a month. The jury reached a verdict in just 10 hours, awarding $15 million to Mendez, $16 million to Sharpe, $7 million to Thomson and $15 million to Williams.

Following the verdict, Judge John H. Ehrlich ruled there was sufficient evidence for the jury to potentially add additional punitive damages to the verdict. The judge based this decision on a determination that Abbott participated in willful, wanton or reckless conduct by endangering infants’ lives. On Friday, the jury ruled that Abbott indeed owed the four women punitive damages, adding another $17 million to the original verdict.

The verdict ends 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.

Mead Johnson, also facing Enfamil NEC lawsuits, was ordered to pay $60 million in damages in 2024 after a similar trial also held in Cook County.

Infant Formula NEC Lawsuits

While this trial was held at the state level, most Similac NEC lawsuits and Enfamil NEC lawsuits are currently pending in the federal court system, where claims brought nationwide have been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer in the Northern District of Illinois, as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

The judge has the parties preparing a group of claims to serve as potential bellwether trials, designed to give parties an opportunity to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

Originally, the first federal lawsuit was scheduled to begin last April, but Judge Pallmeyer dismissed that batch of cases due to a lack of sufficient evidence and replaced them with a new selection of claims. The first is now scheduled to go to trial in August.

Despite the outcomes having no bearing on the other claims, the state and federal trials are being closely watched to see what types of payouts plaintiffs are being awarded, which could help the parties reach an infant formula NEC lawsuit settlement.

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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