Similac NeoSure Caused NEC for Premature Infant, Mother’s Lawsuit Claims

Abbott knew for years about the link between Similac Neosure and NEC for premature babies, but misled parents and doctors about the risk of cow’s milk-based formula, according to the lawsuit.

A New York mother has filed a product liability lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories, alleging that Similac Neosure caused the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) for her premature infant, resulting in the need for multiple surgical procedures and leaving the child with permanent injuries.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Selena Feliciano in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on March 18, seeking financial compensation for injuries suffered by her baby, identified by the initials G.D. in the lawsuit.

According to the Similac NeoSure lawsuit, Abbott Laboratories knew or should have known that premature infants faced devastating risks from NEC when the cow’s milk formula is used, instead of breast milk or donor milk. However, rather than warning parents and doctors, Abbott continued to market products like Similac NeoSure as safe and equivalent to human milk for all infants, which it knew was false.

G.D. was born premature at 26 weeks and was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, New York. During his stay in NICU he was fed Similac Neosure, a version of cow’s milk-based infant formula sold by Abbott. He then developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which required him to undergo multiple surgeries, suffering severe and permanent injuries, according to the lawsuit.

NEC is an injury that mostly impacts premature and low birth weight infants, and a growing body of research has found that the risk is substantially greater after use of Similac or Enfamil premature infant formula products, compared to babies who receive breast milk alone.

“Years before G.D. was exposed to Similac NeoSure and developed NEC, Abbott was aware, or should have been aware, of the overwhelming body of scientific evidence and research confirming that cow’s milk-based nutrition products, like Similac NeoSure, cause or substantially increase the risk of NEC in preterm infants,” Feliciano’s lawsuit states. “Although Abbott knew, or should have known, about the unreasonable and substantial adverse risks its cow’s milk-based products posed to preterm infants, it negligently, recklessly, or intentionally failed to make these products safer or adequately warn consumers or the health care community of their products’ true risks.”

The Similac NeoSure NEC lawsuit accuses Abbott of instead undermining the science connecting the use of cow’s milk-based formula to increased risks of NEC through “aggressive marketing and misleading marketing campaigns”, the lawsuit states.

Feliciano joins a growing number of families nationwide now pursing a NEC lawsuit against Abbott, as well as similar Enfamil lawsuits being pursued against the makers of that competing infant formula, Mead Johnson.

Given similar allegations that cow’s milk formula caused NEC presented in claims filed throughout the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) is considering whether to centralize and consolidate the cases before one U.S. District Judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings, and a hearing is set for next week to decide the future of the baby formula NEC litigation.