Published September 21, 2026
A federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois returned a full defense verdict for Mead Johnson on September 1, 2026, following a two-week trial before U.S. Senior District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer and roughly five hours of deliberation. The case is the first bellwether trial to reach a jury verdict in the multidistrict litigation over cow's-milk-based infant formula and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which now consolidates more than 800 lawsuits against Mead Johnson and Abbott Laboratories in the Northern District of Illinois.
The plaintiff, Alexis Inman, alleged that Mead Johnson's Enfamil Premature formula caused her son, Daniel Windley, to develop NEC — a serious and sometimes fatal intestinal condition in premature infants — and that the company failed to adequately warn healthcare providers of the risk. The jury rejected both the defective-product and failure-to-warn claims. Mead Johnson was represented by a trial team from Steptoe and Covington & Burling.
This federal defense win follows a similar outcome in Missouri state court in July 2026, where a St. Louis jury also sided with Mead Johnson, and comes about a month after Abbott agreed to pay roughly $670 million to resolve about 2,000 separate NEC claims. With defense verdicts now on the board in both a state and the lead federal case, and a competing settlement already in place for a different defendant, the results of the next scheduled bellwether trials are likely to shape how quickly the remaining federal cases move toward trial or settlement talks.
A single bellwether defense verdict doesn't decide any other family's case — each claim turns on its own medical records and feeding history. If your premature infant was fed Enfamil or Similac and later developed NEC, the practical next step is the same regardless of this verdict: get a free eligibility review so an attorney can look at your specific timeline. See Atumio's NEC Baby Formula case page for a free, confidential eligibility review, or start your case review directly.