Studies have shown that side effects of Similac and Enfamil formula substantially increase the risk of NEC for premature newborns, lawsuit notes.
Michigan mother claims that Abbott Laboratories has known for years about the risk that cow's milk-based Similac formula may cause NEC in premature infants.
After she was fed Similac formula as an infant, a now adult woman indicates that she developed permanent and disabling NEC injuries, which continue to cause medical and financial challenges.
North Carolina mother indicates the cow's milk-based Similac infant formula caused a fatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) infection, which took her child’s life at just three weeks old.
Lawsuit alleges mother says she would have never allowed hospital staff to feed her child cow's milk-based formula had she been told the risks of Similac NEC side effects.
Removing Similac Special Care and other premature infant formula products from the market could staunch the flow of future NEC lawsuits, experts say.
Antibiotics are only effective at treating bacterial infections, and can increase the risk of respiratory complications when newborns are given antibiotics unnecessarily or as a preemptive measure.
Nearly 20 years after being fed Enfamil formula in the hospital, plaintiff's daughter continues to suffer from injuries caused by NEC, highlighting how earlier warnings could have prevented long-term harm.
The study does not address the other pregnancy risks linked to opioid use in previous research, such as birth defect risks and neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Researchers indicate that premature infant death rates have leveled off since 2015, but fatalities from certain conditions are rising, such as chronic lung disease.
