Jury Trial Over NEC Risk From Cow’s Milk Infant Formula Gets Underway in Missouri State Court

The third lawsuit to go to trial over claims that cow’s milk-based infant formula can cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has begun this week in Missouri state court, coming on the heels of two similar trials that resulted in juries ordering manufacturers of the products to pay more than $555 million in combined compensation to families for failing to warn about the risk.

This latest trial involves a complaint brought by Elizabeth Whitfield, on behalf of herself and her minor son, which is one of about 1,000 product liability lawsuits currently pending against the makers of Similac and Enfamil. Each of the claims involve similar allegations that premature infants developed NEC after they were fed the cow’s milk formula, resulting in devastating and often fatal injuries.

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 Similac and Enfamil have been marketed in recent decades for use among premature infants, there is now increasing evidence that these vulnerable children face an unreasonable risk of developing NEC when fed cow’s milk formula, as opposed to a mother’s breast milk or human donor milk.

The Similac lawsuits and Enfamil lawsuits indicate that the manufacturers withheld critical information from families and the medical community about the risk of NEC from cow’s milk formulas, indicating that children could have avoided the severe and often fatal injuries if accurate information had been provided.

While all cow’s milk infant formula NEC lawsuits filed in federal court have been centralized as part of a federal MDL (multidistrict litigation) in the Northern District of Illinois since 2022, where U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer has been presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings, many claims are also filed in state courts nationwide.

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.

Missouri Infant Formula NEC Risks Trial

This latest trial began on Monday, and names Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson, as well as St. Louis Children’s Hospital, as defendants. The lawsuit claims the defendants had a legal responsibility to warn Whitfield about the NEC risks linked to cow’s milk infant formula, but failed to do so.

Whitfield’s son was born premature in August 2017, after less than 28 weeks gestation. He developed NEC after the hospital began feeding him Similac and Enfamil, and had to undergo surgery to remove part of his intestines.

The manufacturers say there is no scientific evidence to support the claims of Whitfield and other parents, despite years of scientific studies warning the medical community and the manufacturers that cow’s milk-based products are linked to an increased NEC risk, and that breast milk from mothers or human donors is safer.

The trial is being closely watched by others involved in the litigation, particularly ahead of several federal bellwether trials under preparation.

October 2024 Infant Formula NEC Lawsuits Update

As part of the management of the litigation at the federal level, Judge 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 four baby formula NEC lawsuit bellwether candidates were selected in October 2023, and the parties have been preparing each of the claims for trial over the past year, but firm trial dates have not yet been set.

Judge Pallmeyer has previously indicated the cases will be spaced about 12 weeks apart.

Early trial dates in both the MDL and various state courts are all being watched closely, as the average lawsuit payouts may have a substantial impact on the amount that Abbott and Mead Johnson may be required to pay in NEC settlements to avoid hundreds of additional claims going before juries.

As the bellwether trial process continues, NEC baby formula lawyers are continuing to review and file new claims for families nationwide, so the size and scope of the litigation is expected to continue to grow in the coming months and years.