The Abbott formula lawsuit is a wave of product liability claims alleging that Similac Special Care, Abbott’s cow’s-milk-based formula for premature infants, caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in babies fed the product in neonatal intensive care units. Hundreds of cases are consolidated in a federal multidistrict litigation in Chicago alongside claims against Mead Johnson, maker of Enfamil, and state court juries have returned verdicts totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. As of mid-2026, there is no global settlement, trials are ongoing, and Abbott is lobbying Congress for a liability shield.
What Parents Are Alleging
The heart of the litigation is a failure-to-warn claim. Plaintiffs say Abbott knew that cow’s-milk-based preterm formula increased the risk of NEC in premature babies but did not disclose that risk to parents or to the hospitals feeding their infants. NEC is a severe intestinal disease that primarily strikes babies born early and at low birth weight. It can destroy bowel tissue, require emergency surgery, and is fatal in roughly 30 percent of cases among very low birth weight infants.1Nature.com. Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Infant Formula
Beyond failure to warn, the complaints allege defective design, negligence, and in some cases breach of warranty and fraud. A recurring theme is that mothers were never told about the danger and would not have consented to formula feeding had they known.2Levin Law. Illinois NEC Verdict Against Abbott
Abbott denies that Similac causes NEC. The company argues NEC is an inherent disease of prematurity driven by gestational age, birth weight, and clinical factors unrelated to formula, and it points to statements from the NIH, FDA, and CDC saying there is “no conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes NEC.”3Miller & Zois. Formula NEC Lawsuit Abbott has also tried to invoke the “learned intermediary” doctrine, arguing that its warning obligation runs only to physicians, not parents. A Missouri appellate court rejected that argument in May 2026, holding that preterm formula is legally food, not a prescription drug.4Chicago Tribune. Abbott Laboratories Infant Formula Appeal
Research consistently shows that premature infants fed an exclusive human-milk diet develop NEC at lower rates than those receiving cow’s-milk-based formula.5PubMed Central. NEC and Cow’s Milk Protein The scientific dispute at trial has been over whether formula itself is causing harm or whether the absence of human milk is the real variable. A 2024 working group at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development endorsed the latter view.1Nature.com. Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Infant Formula
Where the Cases Are Being Heard
The federal cases sit in In re: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer oversees the docket, which was centralized there in April 2022. As of May 2026, about 797 cases were pending in the federal MDL out of roughly 987 total filings nationwide.6MDL Update. MDL-3026 Abbott Laboratories, Preterm Infant Nutrition This is not a class action. Each family’s case is its own lawsuit; the MDL just consolidates pretrial work like discovery and expert challenges.
The federal bellwether process has favored Abbott so far. In May 2025, Judge Pallmeyer granted Abbott summary judgment in the first bellwether, Mar v. Abbott Laboratories, finding that the plaintiff could not show a lack of warning caused the infant’s NEC because the treating physician testified that hospital staff would have used the formula anyway. The judge noted the ruling had “limited direct application” to other cases and preserved key plaintiffs’ experts for future trials.7Drugwatch. Judge Grants Summary Judgment to Abbott in First Baby Formula NEC Bellwether A second bellwether, Diggs v. Abbott, ended the same way in July 2025 after the court excluded the plaintiff’s causation expert.3Miller & Zois. Formula NEC Lawsuit
Those setbacks have pushed most new filings into state courts, where plaintiffs’ attorneys view the standards for admitting expert testimony as more forgiving and juries as more receptive. Madison County, Illinois has become a hub; over 90 percent of national claims against Mead Johnson are now filed there or in neighboring St. Clair County.8American Tort Reform Association. Mead Johnson Petition – Jupiter The next federal bellwether, Inman v. Mead Johnson & Company, is scheduled for July 6, 2026, and will be the first federal trial targeting Enfamil rather than Similac.9Call FOB. NEC Lawsuit Updates
Jury Verdicts So Far
State court juries have driven the largest awards. Across the litigation, verdicts have topped $655 million.10Edgar Snyder & Associates. NEC Baby Formula Lawsuit 2026 Update
The first plaintiff verdict came in March 2024, when an Illinois state court jury ordered Mead Johnson to pay $60 million to a family whose baby died from NEC after being fed Enfamil.11BMJ. NEC Baby Formula Verdict
The largest verdict came in July 2024. A St. Louis jury awarded $495 million to Margo Gill on behalf of her daughter Robynn Davis, born at 26 weeks in 2021 and diagnosed with NEC after being fed Similac Special Care. The jury awarded $95 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages, finding Abbott liable for failure to warn, negligent design defect, and negligent failure to warn. In May 2026, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict in full, writing that Abbott “specifically designed its preterm formula for the population exposed to the most risk and yet failed to mitigate any danger by warning the consumer or actively changing the ingredient profile,” and calling the company’s conduct “significantly reprehensible.”4Chicago Tribune. Abbott Laboratories Infant Formula Appeal Abbott has said it plans to seek further review.
In April 2026, a Cook County, Illinois jury returned the first Illinois state verdict against Abbott, awarding $70 million to four families whose premature babies developed NEC after being fed Similac Special Care 24. Compensatory damages totaled $53 million, with individual awards from $7 million to $16 million; the jury added $17 million in punitive damages after finding Abbott’s conduct “willful and wanton.” Jurors said they did not want the product pulled but believed Abbott needed to add a warning label.12Chicago Tribune. Abbott Punitive Damages Infant Formula Abbott has said it intends to appeal.
Abbott has also won cases. A St. Louis defense verdict in October 2024, Whitfield v. Abbott and Mead Johnson, was overturned in March 2025 by Judge Michael Noble, who ordered a new trial after finding “pervasive prejudicial conduct” by defense attorneys.13Keller Postman. Keller Postman Secures Retrial in NEC Case A Florida state judge dismissed an NEC trial against Abbott in April 2026 under the learned intermediary doctrine, ruling the treating physicians already knew of formula-related risks.3Miller & Zois. Formula NEC Lawsuit
Is There a Settlement?
No. As of mid-2026, neither Abbott nor Mead Johnson has offered a settlement program covering the litigation as a whole. Abbott did settle one bellwether case mid-trial in July 2024, but the terms were not disclosed and set no precedent for other families.6MDL Update. MDL-3026 Abbott Laboratories, Preterm Infant Nutrition
The pressure to negotiate has grown with each verdict. Some legal observers now describe the litigation as moving toward a “broader case settlement resolution,” though no timeline or dollar figure has been reported.3Miller & Zois. Formula NEC Lawsuit Any family considering a claim should expect to litigate rather than file into an existing settlement pool.
Abbott’s Push for Congressional Immunity
Abbott has taken the unusual step of asking Congress for protection from these lawsuits. In March 2025, Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) introduced a bill that would grant formula manufacturers a liability shield and dismiss current cases. Abbott has also pushed for a government-run compensation fund modeled on the federal vaccine injury program, which would pay claimants but bar them from suing.14Claims Journal. NEC Formula Litigation Congressional Activity
The effort has drawn bipartisan pushback. A group of House and Senate lawmakers wrote to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging a mandatory warning label on preterm formula, and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) called Abbott’s immunity request a “power play.” A related amendment directing the FDA to examine preterm formula availability passed a House committee in June 2025 but did not make it into the final spending package.14Claims Journal. NEC Formula Litigation Congressional Activity For families weighing whether to file, the political effort is worth watching: legislation of the sort Abbott is seeking could cut off existing claims.
Who Can File and How Long They Have
The typical plaintiff is the parent or guardian of a premature infant who was fed Similac (or Enfamil) in a hospital setting, usually in a NICU, and who was subsequently diagnosed with NEC. Medical records need to confirm the premature birth, the NEC diagnosis, and formula exposure.3Miller & Zois. Formula NEC Lawsuit
Filing deadlines depend on the state. Statutes of limitations generally range from one to six years, and many states apply a “discovery rule” that starts the clock when the family learns of the connection between formula and NEC. Where the injured person is a minor, the clock often does not begin until the child turns 18, which can extend the filing window considerably. Courts have recently signaled a stricter approach to procedural dismissals for late filings, so families thinking about a claim should not assume the deadline is far off.3Miller & Zois. Formula NEC Lawsuit
One boundary is worth naming. This litigation is about preterm hospital formulas fed to premature babies who developed NEC. It is separate from the 2022 Similac recall involving Cronobacter contamination and separate from any claim involving standard retail formulas fed to full-term infants at home.