Published September 9, 2026
Abbott Laboratories agreed in late August 2026 to pay $670 million to resolve lawsuits alleging that its cow's milk-based formula for premature infants — designed for hospital use — caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a bowel disease with a mortality rate estimated above 20% in affected infants. The settlement, reached with three plaintiffs' firms, covers claims involving roughly 2,000 infants. Abbott is not admitting liability as part of the deal.
The settlement includes the case of an Illinois mother who won a $495 million jury verdict against Abbott in 2024 after jurors concluded its Similac Special Care formula caused her daughter's NEC. A Missouri appeals court upheld that verdict in May 2026, and as part of the new settlement, Abbott has agreed to drop its remaining efforts to appeal it further.
The $670 million deal doesn't close out the NEC litigation. According to Abbott's own disclosures, about 1,700 lawsuits covering roughly 12,700 infants remain pending against the company. Separately, Mead Johnson — maker of Enfamil, sued in parallel NEC litigation — is not part of this settlement and continues to face its own bellwether trials in both state and federal court.
A settlement of this size for a first tranche of cases is often a signal that a manufacturer is looking to manage, rather than eliminate, its litigation exposure — it doesn't set individual payout amounts for infants outside this specific group, and it doesn't affect claims against Mead Johnson at all. If your premature infant was fed Similac, Enfamil, or another cow's milk-based formula and later diagnosed with NEC, see Atumio's NEC Baby Formula Lawsuit page for a free, no-obligation review, or start your case review directly.