Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating intestinal disease that strikes premature infants, most often in the neonatal intensive care unit. Inflammation causes the tissue of the intestine to die, which can lead to perforation of the bowel, infection and sepsis, emergency surgery to remove damaged intestine, lasting scarring and strictures, cerebral palsy and neurological damage — and, in many cases, death. Lawsuits against Abbott Laboratories, maker of Similac and Similac Human Milk Fortifier, and Mead Johnson, maker of Enfamil, allege that preterm infants fed cow's milk–based formula and fortifiers face a significantly higher risk of NEC than babies fed breast milk or donor human milk.
Families allege the manufacturers knew of that risk and marketed these products for premature babies anyway, without warning parents or hospitals and without steering them toward safer human-milk-based alternatives. Federal cases have been consolidated in In re: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3026 in the Northern District of Illinois, while other cases proceed in state courts. In July 2024, a Missouri jury returned a $495 million verdict against Abbott — including $400 million in punitive damages — in the case of a premature infant who developed NEC after being fed Similac products. Trials since have reached mixed results, and every case turns on its own facts.
If your premature baby was fed Similac or Enfamil formula or fortifier and was diagnosed with NEC — whether they recovered, needed surgery, or passed away — your family may be able to hold the manufacturer accountable.
