Baby Formula Lawsuits

 Parents of premature infants are filing baby formula lawsuits against makers of Similac and Enfamil. Lawsuits claim manufacturers didn’t adequately warn that these cow’s milk-based formulas could lead to serious gastrointestinal problems in premature infants and may lead to death. 

Parents are suing Enfamil manufacturer Mead Johnson and Similac manufacturer Abbott Laboratories because they knew or should have known their baby formula products could cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants. Manufacturers failed to warn parents and medical providers about the risk.

NEC is a serious gastrointestinal condition that causes intestinal tissue death and may be fatal in as many as 50% of cases. It causes intestinal inflammation that may cause holes in the intestine. Bacteria from the intestine can leak into the abdomen or blood, causing serious illness or deadly blood infections.

As far back as 1990, a study in Lancet revealed that NEC was up to 10 times more common in premature babies given formula. Since then, many more studies have linked cow’s milk-based formula to a higher risk of NEC in premature infants, according to baby formula lawsuits.