Published August 5, 2026
A Cook County, Illinois jury awarded $53 million in compensatory damages on April 9, 2026, to four mothers whose premature infants developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after being fed Abbott Laboratories' Similac Special Care 24, a cow's-milk-based formula for preterm babies. The jury found Abbott failed to adequately warn hospitals and families about the formula's risks for premature infants, and went on to award an additional $17 million in punitive damages.
This case ran through Illinois state court, separately from the federal NEC baby formula MDL that Atumio previously reported on — that federal litigation, centered on Mead Johnson's Enfamil, had roughly 782 lawsuits pending in the Northern District of Illinois as of this case's verdict. The two tracks proceed under different manufacturers and different courts, but rest on a similar core allegation: that manufacturers of cow's-milk-based preterm formulas didn't adequately warn that their products raise the risk of NEC compared with human milk or milk-based alternatives.
Necrotizing enterocolitis is a serious intestinal disease that occurs almost exclusively in premature or low-birth-weight infants, and can be fatal or require emergency surgery to remove damaged bowel tissue. The families in this case argued their infants developed NEC specifically after being fed Abbott's formula in the hospital.
Abbott has said it "respectfully but strongly" disagrees with the verdict and intends to appeal, arguing the decision runs counter to the medical and regulatory consensus that preterm formula products are safe and medically necessary for infants who can't be exclusively fed breast milk.
If your premature or low-birth-weight infant was fed a cow's-milk-based formula such as Similac or Enfamil and was later diagnosed with NEC, see Atumio's NEC baby formula case page for a free eligibility review, or start your case review directly.