The Trial Order Is Set for Baby Formula Lawsuit Bellwether Cases
Editors carefully fact-check all Consumer Notice, LLC content for accuracy and quality.
Consumer Notice, LLC has a stringent fact-checking process. It starts with our strict sourcing guidelines.
We only gather information from credible sources. This includes peer-reviewed medical journals, reputable media outlets, government reports, court records and interviews with qualified experts.
The four MDL bellwether cases among the baby formula lawsuits are progressing toward trial.
The trial order of the cases – which were first announced in December 2023 – has been determined, according to court documents filed on Sep. 12. MDL Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer is directing counsel to begin setting firm dates for the four trials.
The first case to go to trial will be Ericka Mar, as Administratrix of the Estate of RaiLee Mar v. Abbott Laboratories, which centers on an incident from 2014 where the premature infant, RaiLee, died after being fed cow’s milk formula.
The lawsuit states that RaiLee Mar was fed Abbot Laboratories’ Similac formula while in the NICU and developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) soon after.
As stated in several official complaints concerning these lawsuits, “This action arises out of the catastrophic and preventable death of a newborn baby who died due to a horrific and deadly disease caused and/or substantially contributed to by cow’s-milk-based infant formula.”
After Mar v. Abbott, the order for the next three cases will be:
- Keosha Diggs, Individually and as Parent and General Guardian of K.B. (Kamari Brown) v. Abbott Laboratories
- Rebekah Etienne & Deondrick Brown v. Abbott Laboratories
- Inman v. Mead Johnson & Company, LLC, et al.
In June, the estimated start of the bellwether trials was May 2025. More information on trial dates should become available in the coming weeks.
Hundreds of Lawsuits Claim Cow’s Milk Formula Led to NEC
There are nearly 600 cases pending in multidistrict litigation claiming that cow’s milk formula was responsible for the development of NEC in premature infants.
NEC, or necrotizing enterocolitis, is a serious intestinal issue that can be fatal in newborns. According to the Cleveland Clinic, NEC can cause a hole to form in infants’ intestines, which can result in bacteria leaking into the bloodstream.
Nine in 10 infants who develop NEC are born prematurely.
Some studies have suggested a link exists between the feeding of cow’s milk formulas to premature babies and the development of NEC. Plaintiffs have primarily filed lawsuits aimed at Abott Laboratories, the makers of Similac formulas, and Mead Johnson & Company, LLC, the makers of Enfamil formulas. According to the complaints, the companies failed to warn customers of these risks.
Outside of the MDL, plaintiffs have already seen huge verdicts awarded over the issue. In July, a St. Louis jury provided a $495 million verdict to the family of a premature infant who, while in NICU, was fed Similac formula and subsequently developed NEC which caused severe neurological damage.
A jury also awarded a $60 million verdict in March to a woman whose child died from NEC after being fed Enfamil.
Editor Lindsay Donaldson contributed to this article.