Abbott Hit With $70M Verdict Over Infant Formula's Deadly Risks

CHICAGO, IL – April 10, 2026 – A Cook County jury has delivered a stunning $70 million verdict against Abbott Laboratories, concluding that the healthcare giant’s cow’s milk-based infant formula, Similac, caused four premature infants to develop a devastating and often fatal intestinal disease. The verdict, which includes $17 million in punitive damages, marks a significant victory for families who argued the company knew its product posed a grave risk to the most vulnerable babies and failed to warn them.

The lawsuit centered on necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a horrific condition where the intestinal lining of a newborn becomes inflamed and dies, potentially leading to a perforation that spills waste into the baby’s abdomen. For the four families represented in the case, the diagnosis meant their infants, already fighting for life in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), were subjected to emergency surgeries, long-term health complications, and immense suffering.

“This verdict reveals the truth that Abbott hid from the public: cow’s milk-based baby formula causes NEC in premature infants,” said Sean Grimsley, a partner at Olson Grimsley, the law firm representing the families. “No amount of money can help these families recover from this terrible disease, but today’s verdict provides a measure of justice for families who were kept in the dark."

Abbott Laboratories has stated its disagreement with the verdict and intends to appeal, maintaining that its products are vital for premature infants when a mother's milk is unavailable and that NEC has multifactorial causes.

The Human Cost of a Hidden Danger

Necrotizing enterocolitis is one of the most feared diagnoses in any NICU. It is a rapid, aggressive disease that primarily strikes premature infants, with mortality rates as high as 50% in the most severe cases. Survivors are not unscathed; they often face a lifetime of complications, including short bowel syndrome, neurodevelopmental delays, and growth failure, requiring extensive and costly medical care.

The case, Antonia Mendez v Abbott Laboratories, put a human face on these statistics. The trial, which lasted over a month, detailed the harrowing experiences of four families whose children suffered lifelong complications after being fed Similac. Attorneys argued that Abbott engaged in a pattern of promoting its cow's milk-based products as safe and equivalent to human milk for premature infants, despite internal knowledge and external scientific evidence suggesting otherwise.

The jury’s decision to award not only compensatory damages—$53 million for the four mothers—but also a substantial punitive sum of $17 million suggests they found the company's conduct to be particularly egregious. This portion of the award is designed to punish wrongdoing and deter future misconduct, sending a clear message to the broader industry.

The Science in the Spotlight

The verdict has thrust a long-standing medical debate about infant nutrition into the legal and public arena. For years, a growing body of scientific research has linked cow's milk-based formulas to a significantly higher risk of NEC in premature infants compared to an exclusive diet of human milk.

Multiple meta-analyses and observational studies have supported this link, with some research indicating that premature babies fed cow's milk formula are between six and twenty times more likely to develop NEC than those fed breast milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have long recommended human milk as the optimal source of nutrition for all infants, especially those born prematurely, due to its unique protective properties that support gut health and immunity.

While Abbott has argued that the primary risk factor for NEC is the absence of breast milk rather than the presence of formula, plaintiffs’ lawyers successfully contended that the company had a duty to warn hospitals and parents about the known, elevated risks associated with their specific products. The core of their argument was not that formula should be banned, but that parents and doctors deserved transparent information to make a truly informed choice, particularly when a human milk-based alternative could be used.

Adding to the complexity, a 2024 joint statement from the FDA, CDC, and NIH noted that while there is strong evidence that human milk is protective against NEC, there is no “conclusive evidence” that formula itself is a direct cause. This nuanced position highlights the difficulty in proving direct causation in a courtroom, making the jury's clear finding against Abbott all the more significant.

A Widening Legal Battle

The Cook County verdict is not an isolated event but a major development in a sprawling legal war being waged against Abbott and Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil, in courtrooms across the country. There are currently hundreds of similar lawsuits consolidated in a federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of Illinois, with hundreds more pending in state courts, particularly in Illinois, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.

The legal outcomes have been mixed. While some early federal bellwether trials have resulted in dismissals or verdicts for the defense, plaintiffs have secured massive victories in state courts. Prior to this $70 million verdict, an Illinois jury awarded $60 million against Mead Johnson in a similar case in March 2024. This pattern suggests that juries are proving receptive to the argument that formula manufacturers prioritized profits over the safety of vulnerable infants.

In its public statements and SEC filings, Abbott has consistently stood by its products and vowed to fight the allegations. The company acknowledges the litigation as a financial risk but has thus far refused to add a specific NEC warning to its product labels. This legal strategy is now under immense pressure as nine-figure verdicts accumulate and public awareness grows.

As these cases continue to move forward, they are forcing a reckoning within the multi-billion-dollar infant nutrition industry. Advocacy groups like the NEC Society, led by families affected by the disease, are amplifying their calls for greater transparency, more research, and a shift in NICU protocols toward prioritizing human milk. For the thousands of families with pending claims and for parents of premature infants everywhere, the outcome of this legal saga could fundamentally change the standard of care and corporate accountability for generations to come.