Published August 3, 2026
A Missouri appeals court has upheld a $495 million jury verdict against Abbott Laboratories, rejecting the company's bid to overturn one of the largest awards yet in the litigation over preterm infant formula and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The underlying case was brought by Illinois resident Margo Gill, whose daughter Robynn Davis was born at 26 weeks and developed NEC — a severe intestinal disease — after being fed Abbott's cow's milk-based formula for premature infants.
A St. Louis jury originally reached the verdict in July 2024, awarding $95 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages after finding Abbott failed to adequately warn about the formula's risks to premature infants. On appeal, Abbott argued the plaintiff hadn't shown the formula caused her daughter's NEC, that its formula design wasn't negligent, and that the punitive damages award was excessive. The Missouri Court of Appeals rejected those arguments in May 2026, and Abbott has asked for permission to take the case to the Missouri Supreme Court.
The upheld verdict comes on top of continued losses for Abbott elsewhere. In April 2026, a Cook County, Illinois jury awarded four mothers a combined $70 million (including punitive damages) in a separate NEC trial involving Abbott's Similac Special Care 24 formula — the company's second trial loss in the litigation. Abbott now faces more than 1,700 NEC-related lawsuits nationwide, alleging it knew of and failed to warn about the risk its cow's milk-based formulas posed to premature infants.
If your premature infant was fed a cow's milk-based formula like Similac or Enfamil and later developed NEC, these verdicts don't decide your individual case, but they reflect how juries and appeals courts have been weighing the same core allegations. See Atumio's NEC baby formula case page for a free, no-obligation review, or start your case review directly.