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HomeProduct Liability LawyerNEC Lawsuit Lawyers For Infant Formula Cases

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NEC Lawsuit Lawyers For Infant Formula Cases

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Jonathan Rosenfeld - J.D

December 4, 2024

Over $450 Million worth of case results
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If your premature baby was given Similac or Enfamil formula and later developed Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), you may be eligible to receive financial compensation for the pain and suffering your child had to endure. Evidence has emerged showing that cow milk in these formula products contributes to the development of NECs in premature babies.

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, we’re representing families who have suffered because of these toxic baby formulas. You may be eligible to participate in the NEC lawsuits against the manufacturers.

criteria to file a nec baby formula lawsuit and potential settlement values

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What Is the NEC Baby Formula Lawsuit About?

The NEC baby formula lawsuit is about cow milk formulas linked to Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), a serious gastrointestinal condition found in premature babies.

Parents of premature infants who were administered cow milk formula in the hospital, such as Abbott’s Similac and Mead Johnson’s Enfamil, and later suffered stomach problems are filing lawsuits for financial losses and emotional distress as the baby formula brands carried no warnings about NEC.

What Is the Status of NEC Baby Formula Lawsuits?

All NEC baby formula lawsuits filed against Abbott and Mead Johnson in District Courts across the United States have been joined together in multi-district litigation by the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (JPML) as the lawsuits share similar allegations and facts.

NEC infant formula MDL 3026 was created through a JPML order dated April 8, 2022 and the litigation has been assigned to Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois. There are over 500 baby formula lawsuits pending under this MDL as of May 2024. No jury verdicts or approved settlements have been reached yet.

There’s no NEC baby formula class action lawsuit. Rather, all of the individual NEC formula lawsuit claims about Necrotizing Enterocolitis complications for infants administered cow’s milk baby formula have been organized into a multi-district litigation by the JPML.

The pre-trial proceedings and the discovery process are consolidated for all lawsuits in the MDL under a single judge.

According to the latest NEC lawsuit update, more than three dozen new cases were added to the NEC multi-district litigation, marking the second biggest monthly increase in the number of new cases since the infant formula MDL began. A total of 389 cases are now pending under this MDL.

There have been several notable NEC baby formula lawsuit updates during the course of the MDL, including:

November, 2023 – Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in the Northern District of Illinois selected four bellwether cases for trial. Of the four cases, two each name Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson as defendants. Trials are expected to begin in 2024.
May, 2023 – Potential collusion between baby formula manufacturers being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission regarding bidding in a state contract. The investigation started in 2022 and revolved around bids to supply the Department of Agriculture’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which delivers free formula to low-income families. It’s believed winning such contracts enables a formula manufacturer to increase commercial sales.
May, 2023 – Lawsuits that only claimed economic losses stemming from the use of toxic baby formula were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly. Parents now have the chance to revise and file their lawsuit again. These plaintiffs were part of a consolidated case against Abbott Laboratories. Even though the economic loss claims have been dismissed, the personal injury claims have been allowed to proceed by the judge.
October, 2022 – The schedule and protocol for selecting bellwether cases is established through a court order, with the plaintiffs picking four, defendants picking four, and the rest being randomly selected by the court.
January, 2022 – A petition was filed with the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation for all NEC lawsuits to be consolidated into a new multi-district litigation. This petition was filed by Abbott and the company requested the potential baby formula lawsuit MDL be created in the District of Connecticut.
December 2021 – A new study highlights the increased risk of NEC in premature infants fed cow milk-based formula instead of those fed human milk exclusively. [1]

NEC Infant Formula Lawsuits Deadline

There’s a deadline to sue beyond which your claim won’t be eligible. This is called the statute of limitations. Most of the NEC baby formula lawsuits will be product liability lawsuits. The NEC lawsuit statute of limitations is different for every state and the applicability depends on the state where the infant was harmed.

It typically ranges from two years to ten years for most states in the US, with the vast majority having a two-year deadline. The statute can be different for wrongful death cases.

Precisely when the statute of limitations began for you will depend on the facts unique to your lawsuit. You’ll need an NEC baby formula lawyer experienced in complex multi-district litigation to figure this out based on your state’s laws.

It’s possible a discovery rule issue may emerge in NEC lawsuits allowing for an extension to the statute of limitations. Claims have been made in some lawsuits that parents didn’t know or couldn’t have known about these NEC baby formula issues until recently due to a lack of warnings on the product.

Regardless, time could be running out for you to file a lawsuit and join this NEC infant formula litigation to receive compensation.

Get in touch with a baby formula lawsuit attorney today

Who Can File an NEC Infant Formula Lawsuit?

NEC infant formula lawsuits continue to be filed by parents who believe their premature infants suffered health complications due to being administered bovine milk-based formulas in the hospital. You can file a lawsuit if you meet one of the following NEC lawsuit qualifications:

Your infant was born prematurely
Your infant was fed Similac or Enfamil in the hospital
Your infant was diagnosed with Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) or related health complications

Contaminated Baby Formula Lawyers

How to File a Toxic Baby Formula Lawsuit

There’s a specific process that must be followed to file a toxic baby formula lawsuit, otherwise, you may not be able to receive the compensation you deserve. Here’s what the process includes:

Gather Medical Records: You need to establish through medical records that your infant was born prematurely, was fed toxic baby formula in the hospital, and subsequently suffered from NEC. Gather all of the relevant records, including diagnostic reports, lab test reports, operative notes, and other data to serve as evidence for your case.
File a Lawsuit: Once you have the required evidence, begin legal proceedings by filing your NEC baby formula lawsuit against the manufacturer of the toxic formula that was administered to your premature infant in the hospital.
Hire a Toxic Baby Formula Lawyer: It’s important you file this lawsuit through a lawyer with considerable experience in multi-district litigation and knowledge of all federal and state laws applicable to such cases. These are complicated proceedings against powerful drug companies with deep pockets. Hiring an NEC baby formula lawyer is the only way to safeguard your rights as you go after these manufacturers to recover fair compensation.

How Our NEC Baby Formula Lawyers Can Help

Jonathan Rosenfeld Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, we have decades of experience in conducting large multi-district litigation against major corporations. We’ve helped recover over $450 million in damages for clients. Our product liability lawyers will move quickly to secure all relevant medical records and take an evidence-based approach to fight for you in your NEC baby formula lawsuit.

Large litigations, involving hundreds or even thousands of affected parents like you, against big corporations with great resources are incredibly complicated. These corporations will try as hard as they can to avoid paying the fair compensation parents deserve.

You’ll need experienced personal injury lawyers in your corner who are part of a firm with an established track record of winning big settlements for clients.

Baby formula lawsuits are challenging as they require proving complex questions of science and law. It needs to be clearly established in your lawsuit that specific ingredients in the toxic baby formula resulted in your premature child contracting NEC and that your lawsuit isn’t barred by the statute of limitations in your state.

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The Time It Takes to Settle Toxic Baby Formula Lawsuits

This is only the beginning of the NEC lawsuit. There’s no specific timeline in which the cases have to be resolved. Even the bellwether trials, a handful of cases that are tried first from a group of similar lawsuits, haven’t begun yet. An accurate prediction about how long it will take to settle these cases is difficult to make for your NEC lawyer, but it’s going to take some time.

There are several factors that influence the duration of every case. For example, it will take longer for more complex cases where the severity of the illness and extent of evidence required is more significant. Since a large number of toxic baby formula lawsuits are being filed, this may also lead to delays in processing and adjudication of an Enfamil lawsuit or Similac lawsuit.

There’s also considerable time required to go through the motions of the legal process, including filings, hearings, settlement negotiations, and potential court dates. All of these factors will impact the time it takes to settle the lawsuits.

Toxic Enfamil and Similac Lawsuits

Is Hiring an NEC Attorney Expensive?

Going up against these baby formula manufacturers with their big legal teams can seem daunting. You might be worried that getting the best legal representation to pursue your claim is going to be very expensive. We sincerely believe affordability shouldn’t be a barrier to securing justice. That’s why we’ll handle your NEC lawsuit on a contingency fee basis.

You won’t have to pay us a single cent, no matter how long it takes to get you that settlement. Our product liability lawyers will fight for your rights every step of the way and remain focused on securing a big settlement. We’ll only get paid once you receive a confirmed settlement. Our fee is a percentage of that settlement. If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid.

You can claim compensation for different types of losses, or damages, that you’ve suffered due to your premature infant contracting NEC after being administered toxic baby formula in the hospital. Your baby formula lawsuit lawyer will help you claim both economic and non-economic damages, such as:

Medical Bills: You’re entitled to be compensated for doctor visits, hospital stays, medications, surgeries, medical tests, and future treatments.
Pain and Suffering and Emotional Distress: It would have been incredibly painful and emotionally traumatic to see your child suffer due to NEC. You can be compensated for this pain and suffering.
Lost Wages: If you were unable to work because of the situation with your premature infant, you may be eligible for compensation for lost wages.
Wrongful Death: If your premature baby died as a result of complications arising from NEC, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit and claim compensation for funeral expenses, emotional trauma, and potentially punitive damages as well.

Hundreds of baby formula lawsuits have already been filed and the number continues to grow. There’s not one fixed settlement amount that’s going to be paid to everyone. The payout will be different for every Similac NEC lawsuit and other cases as it will be influenced by various factors, including:

Severity of Disease: The primary factor under consideration will be the severity of the disease suffered by your premature infant after they were given the toxic baby formula.
Extent of Defendant’s Liability: The extent to which the defendant is liable for the hurt caused to your infant by their product will need to be clearly established. Their intent will also be scrutinized accordingly.
Future Medical Expenses: How much will be required to provide ongoing medical care to your child will be factored in as well.

None of the cases in this particular NEC baby formula multi-district litigation have gone to trial as yet. The bellwether trials haven’t even begun and are only expected to get underway later this year. This means there haven’t been any jury verdicts as of yet.

The baby formula manufacturers named in most of these lawsuits haven’t offered any settlements proactively at this time. This means no one has received a baby formula NEC settlement as of right now.

Only when there’s meaningful progress on the MDL may we see a settlement being offered by the manufacturers. In similar cases, we’ve seen settlements ranging into the millions of dollars, including:

$7,050,000 in a claim filed by the parents of a premature newborn who died due to NEC complications.
$2,970,000 jury verdict in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of a premature girl with NEC.
$1,800,000 settlement for parents of a premature baby who died after showing signs of NEC.

The payout differs significantly for every case based on the facts unique to it. Since the average treatment cost for an infant with NEC is $500,000, the average NEC lawsuit settlement tends to be on the higher end.

There’s no standard amount that’s going to be paid out in every NEC lawsuit being filed. The settlement amount you’ll receive depends on a wide range of factors, such as the magnitude of the defendants’ negligence, the severity of the illness, the infant’s age,and past and future medical expenses.

Contact us for a free case evaluation

Why Are People Filing NEC Formula Lawsuits?

Parents of premature infants who were fed cow milk-based formulas have filed Similac lawsuits against Abbott Laboratories and Enfamil lawsuits against Mead Johnson, claiming their Similac and Enfamil baby formula brands caused the infants to develop Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC).

The plaintiffs believe the manufacturers failed to warn about the risk of NEC in their baby formulas while marketing the Similac and Enfamil formulas as safe.

It’s also claimed Abbott and Mead Johnson either knew or should have known about the risks of their baby formulas specifically pertaining to the component bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which may cause NEC and even death in premature babies.

The manufacturers didn’t warn the public even as major medical groups started warning about the risks associated with their products, hence the Similac and Enfamil lawsuits.

Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious gastrointestinal infection that primarily occurs in premature infants. It causes inflammation of the intestinal tissue, leading to perforations in the intestine resulting in bacteria leaking into the bloodstream and the abdominal cavity.

It can be fatal in serious cases as after the baby develops NEC, the leaking bacteria may result in sepsis, a deadly blood infection.

Abbott Laboratories: Abbott is the manufacturer of Similac baby formulas, a bovine milk-based product. The Similac baby formula lawsuits allege the manufacturer failed to warn consumers about the risk of NEC and specifically marketed their Similac infant formula for preterm infants. It’s further alleged in the Abbott baby formula lawsuit the company intentionally encouraged NICUs to use their cow milk formula products to feed premature babies instead of only human breast milk.
Mead Johnson: Mead Johnson, the manufacturer of Enfamil, is being sued on similar grounds in product liability cases. The NEC risks of the cow’s milk-based formulas and fortifiers weren’t highlighted even as the product was marketed to be safe for preterm babies.
Medical Providers: Hospitals and other medical providers have also been named as defendants in some medical malpractice lawsuits as the parents claim the providers suggest the use of Similac and Enfamil for their infants instead of human milk.

The NEC formula lawsuits are primarily being filed against infant formula manufacturers of two highly popular baby formulas, Similac and Enfamil. Some plaintiffs have also named medical providers as defendants for suggesting these formula products as safe alternatives to human breast milk.

More than a dozen Similac and Enfamil brands have been named in the NEC lawsuits filed so far. None of these products had a warning about the risks for NEC. These infant formulas also continue to be marked as safe for the consumption of premature babies.

Similac Special Care
Similac Human Milk Fortifier
Similac NeoSure Similac Alimentum
Similac Alimentum Expert Care
Similac Human Milk Fortifier Concentrated Liquid
Similac Human Milk Fortifier Powder
Similac Liquid Protein Fortifier
Similac Special Care 20
Similac Special Care 24
Similac Special Care 24 High Protein
Similac Special Care 30
Similac Human Milk Fortifier Hydrolyzed Protein- Concentrated Liquid
Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier Acidified Liquid
Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier Powder
Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier Liquid High Protein
Enfamil Milk Fortifier Liquid Standard Protein
Enfamil NeuroPro Enfacare Enfamil Premature 20 Cal
Enfamil Premature 24 Cal
Enfamil Premature 24 Cal/fl oz HP
Enfamil Premature 30 Cal
Enfamil 24 and DHA & ARA Supplement

The Similac and Enfamil baby formulas from Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson have not been recalled due to their potential link with NEC in infants. There have been some isolated incidents of the products being tampered with at stores.

The tampering incident was first reported when a few customers noticed their Enfamil products had flour instead of formula inside.

Abbott did issue a recall for certain batches of Similac Elecare and Alimentum due to a possible bacterial infection back in February 2022. The batches were manufactured at its Sturgis, Michigan factory.

Abbott issued the infant formula recall after four babies contracted Cronobacter sakazakii infections while one got infected with Salmonella Newport. Two ended up passing away. There’s no widespread recall of these products so far due to the premature baby formula lawsuit.

Contact an Experienced NEC Baby Formula Attorney Today!

Jonathan Rosenfeld, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or someone you know had a premature infant who later developed NEC complications after being fed cow’s milk-based formula in the hospital, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can help. As leading product liability attorneys, we provide comprehensive legal assistance on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t pay unless you win a settlement.

We understand it was very hard for you to see your premature baby suffer pain and discomfort due to NEC. Our mission is to get you maximum compensation for what would have undoubtedly been an emotionally traumatizing period, so you’re covered for the past and future medical bills of your infant in addition to other expenses.

We’re actively investigating NEC baby formula cases. Give us a call toll-free at (888) 424-5757 at any time and speak to a real attorney for a free case review. We’ll fight for your rights and make sure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Specific Cases We Handle

Resources: [1] NCBI

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