NEC baby formula lawsuits continue to unfold, with 663 active cases. Bellwether trials are set for 2025, following recent verdicts totaling over half a billion dollars. Despite these, Abbott and Reckitt won a key Missouri case, successfully defending their formulas against NEC claims.
As of March 2025, there were 663 active baby formula necrotizing enterocolitis lawsuits pending in MDL 3026 before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in the Northern District of Illinois.
The first test cases — called bellwether trials — will begin in 2025.
While there are still no approved settlements or jury verdicts in the Illinois MDL, a state court case in Illinois ended in a $60 million plaintiff’s verdict in March 2024. In July 2024, a Missouri jury awarded $495 million to NEC baby formula plaintiffs.
A Missouri jury ruled in late October 2024 in favor of Abbott Laboratories and Reckitt, rejecting claims that their cow’s milk-based baby formulas caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants. The five-week trial verdict marked the companies’ first win in a baby formula lawsuit.
Elizabeth Whitfield, who sought $6.2 billion, argued that her son Kaine developed NEC after using these formulas. Abbott and Reckitt defended their products as essential nutrition for vulnerable infants and stated that no scientific evidence links their formulas to NEC.
Judge Matthew Kennelly presides over a separate Abbott MDL, no. 3037. This MDL is also in Illinois and is related to bacterial contamination of Abbott’s baby formulas. It does not have anything to do with NEC claims.
NEC baby formula lawsuits were filed because infants developed necrotizing enterocolitis after consuming Similac or Enfamil cow’s milk baby formula. Necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, is a severe gastrointestinal disease that causes intestinal tissue death and could lead to serious health problems or death.
Studies have shown that premature babies fed cow’s milk baby formula have an increased risk of developing NEC. An NEC lawsuit for baby formula claims that formula makers Abbott and Mead Johnson knew about the risk but failed to warn the public and continued to sell dangerous products.
A study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in September 2024 in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed some significant findings about feeding highly premature babies.
The research found that babies born very early — before 29 weeks or weighing less than 2.2 pounds — fed donated human milk were much less likely to develop NEC than those fed baby formula. Specifically, only 4.2% of the babies who received human milk developed NEC, while 9% of those who received formula did.
This study, which involved 483 infants, provides strong evidence that giving extremely premature babies donor human milk can help lower their risk of this harmful condition.
In September 2024, the NEC in Preterm Infants Working Group, a U.S. Health and Human Services Department group focused on premature infants’ health, released recommendations concerning NEC.
The working group emphasized that NEC is a complex disease influenced by various factors, and pointed out that one baby dies every day from the condition. Their findings highlight the importance of improving milk production, enhancing the benefits found in human milk and ensuring that families have better access to donor milk when needed.
In April 2022, judges consolidated Similac and Enfamil lawsuits nationwide into multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Illinois under MDL 3026.
These cases all claim that “cow’s milk-based infant formula products marketed under the Similac and Enfamil brand names have a higher propensity to cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in infants born prematurely than other, allegedly safer alternatives,” according to the case transfer order.
Parents or caregivers of premature babies who developed NEC after consuming Similac or Enfamil cow’s milk baby formulas may qualify to file an NEC baby formula lawsuit.
Babies may have consumed Similac or Enfamil in the hospital, and parents may have taken formula from the hospital or bought formula after bringing their preemie home.
Lawyers encourage parents and caregivers to keep all medical records, receipts and formula packaging as evidence in their case. If you don’t know if your baby was fed Similac or Enfamil, your lawyer may be able to help get this information.
The exact worth of Enfamil and Similac baby formula lawsuits has yet to be determined, though lawyers speculate the value could be in the millions. In March 2024, a state court jury in Illinois awarded $60 million to a mother who lost her child after the infant developed NEC following feeding with Enfamil.
It’s important to note that parents and caregivers are not guaranteed a specific amount of compensation. The severity of injuries, the cost of financial or physical damages and other losses may influence the value of a baby formula case.
After the first bellwether cases in 2025, lawyers will better understand the potential value of baby formula cases. Jury verdicts after bellwether trials could lead to global baby formula settlements.
Similac and Enfamil baby formulas have not been recalled for NEC. However, in February 2022, after some babies died from infections, Abbott issued a baby formula recall for potential bacterial contamination.
The recall included specific lots of EleCare, Similac and Alimentum baby formulas from Abbott’s factory in Sturgis, Michigan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration found several strains of Cronobacter sakazakii at the plant during a March 2022 inspection, but it didn’t find any bacteria in product samples.
Cronobacter can cause serious illness in infants and may result in death. Symptoms of Cronobacter infection include jaundice, irritability, temperature changes, grunting breaths, poor feeding and excessive crying. Contact your child’s physician right away if you suspect infection.
Parents can see if their formula is included in the recall by entering lot numbers on Abbott’s recall website.
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