By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK, September 1 (Reuters) – A U.S. federal jury sided with Reckitt Benckiser’s Mead Johnson on Monday in a test trial over claims the company’s Enfamil infant formula for preterm babies caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a dangerous bowel disease.
The Illinois jury concluded Enfamil formula did not cause a preterm baby boy to develop NEC. The case was brought by Alexis Inman, the mother of the boy who died soon after being born prematurely at 29 weeks.
Inman alleged that Mead Johnson failed to warn her or her son’s doctors that Enfamil premature formula could cause NEC.
Mead Johnson said the verdict affirms the company’s view that science does not support the claims in Inman’s lawsuit or in the litigation more broadly.
“We strongly reject any assertion that any of our products cause NEC, and we will continue to vigorously defend ourselves against all such claims in the interest of safeguarding the health of premature babies,” the company said in a statement.
An attorney for Inman did not immediately comment.
The trial is the latest to test claims made in nearly 1,700 similar lawsuits filed against Mead Johnson and Abbott Laboratories, which makes Similac formulas. More than 800 of the cases are centralized in the Illinois federal court, with others pending in state courts including Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania.
The companies have had a mixed record in the few cases to go to trial, with some juries siding with the companies and others with parents who sued. Mead Johnson said there are no outstanding jury verdicts against it in the NEC litigation, as the company won two previous cases at trial and won an appeal over a third case.
One Illinois woman was awarded $495 million in a 2024 verdict against Abbott, which appealed that verdict and ultimately settled that case and about 2,000 other claims for a total $670 million settlement.
(Reporting by Dietrich KnauthEditing by Rod Nickel)
Comments