Abbott Laboratories plans to appeal a US court ruling to award $53m in damages to the mothers of four babies fed the company’s infant formula.
A Cook County judge in Illinois made the decision in a trial last week, a case that alleged a link between Abbott Laboratories’ cows’ milk-based preterm formula and the development of the intestinal disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), according to the legal publication HarrisMartin.
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The verdict by the Cook County Circuit Court jury issued individual awards of $16m, two lots of $15m and one of $9m to the four families after determining that Abbott ‘negligently failed to provide adequate warnings to health care providers and guardians’, the publication reported.
On Friday (10 April), HarrisMartin said the same judge topped up the damages by $17m following a month-long trial as the mothers alleged their babies developed NEC after being fed Abbott Laboratories’ Similac Special Care formula while in hospital.
Chicago-headquartered Abbott Laboratories has faced similar cases in the past, some of which have been dismissed at the court level, a point the company highlighted when asked by Just Food for comment on the damages awarded.
“We respectfully but strongly disagree with this verdict and will appeal as it is out of step with the overwhelming consensus of the medical community and regulators that these preterm products are safe, they are necessary and there is no reliable scientific evidence that they cause NEC,” Abbott Laboratories said in a statement sent to Just Food.
“On four separate occasions, federal and state courts have dismissed similar lawsuits with the federal court recognising the necessity of these products, characterising them as ‘categorical, not marginal.’”
Last October, the company won a legal case – the fourth – in the northern district of Illinois eastern division claiming its Similac formula caused the death of a baby from NEC.
Plaintiffs alleged the infant started to be fed Similac Special Care 24 (SSC-24) in September 2021 but the infant then died a “few days” later from NEC.
The court sided with Abbott Laboratories in that case. The company confirmed at the time that, as of the end of January 2025, there were 1,490 lawsuits pending in federal and state courts in which the company is a party.
In the latest comment provided to Just Food, Abbott Laboratories said: “We stand by the safety of these products and the vital role they play. In light of verdicts like this, and as we have repeatedly said, if the regulatory process and science is going to be disregarded, it’s going to be very difficult for any company to remain on the US market with these products.”
Abbott Laboratories had lost a case in 2024, when it was ordered to pay almost $500m over allegations it hid the risk that its formula for premature babies can cause NEC.
The jury in a state court in St Louis voted nine to three against Abbott Laboratories, which was fined $95m to compensate the Gill family and a further $400m in punitive damages was awarded.
TorHoerman Law, the law firm in that case, said the Gill’s baby “suffered severe, irreversible brain damage due to Abbott’s misconduct”.
