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If your premature infant was fed formula and developed Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC), you may be able to file a lawsuit.
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#NEC LAWSUIT
A $60M Jury Verdict in 2024 Brings Hope to Parents Whose Babies Died or Were Injured.
In March 2024, an Illinois jury ordered Reckitt Benckiser, a unit of Mead Johnson, to pay $60 million to the mother of a premature baby who died after being fed the company’s Enfamil baby formula and developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).1
If Your Baby was Diagnosed with NEC, You Are Not Alone. Contact Us to Learn More About How Moms and Dads Are Seeking Compensation and Pushing for Safer Baby Formulas.
This verdict is the first out of hundreds of pending lawsuits claiming that various Enfamil and Abbott Laboratories’ Similac formulas caused NEC.
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What is NEC and What Does It Look Like?
NEC is a serious gastrointestinal disease that predominantly affects preemies, who are generally lower birth weight. It is a life-threatening illness with a mortality rate of about 50%.2
The illness causes a baby’s intestinal tissue to become inflamed, leading to damaged tissue in the colon and intestines. If left untreated, this damaged tissue can die and cause intestinal perforations. Perforations then allow bacteria from the intestines to leak into the abdomen and infiltrate the bloodstream. This tragic chain of events can lead to very serious complications or death, even when treated aggressively.
It wasn’t your fault. You did the best for your baby. Manufacturers pushed formulas for use in NICUs when safer options were available.
Initial signs and symptoms of NEC include abdominal swelling and tenderness, poor feeding, vomiting, and sudden lethargy.
Even after surgical intervention, an NEC diagnosis can lead to other serious issues including:
- Perforations (holes) in the
baby’s intestines or bowel - Intestinal scarring
- Intestinal strictures (narrowed passageways)
- Short-bowel syndrome
- Trouble absorbing nutrients and calories from food
- Cerebral palsy and other neurological development issues
- Sepsis (when an existing infection spreads throughout the body)
- Death
Parents Were Not Warned About the Risks.
Lawsuits accuse Abbott and Mead Johnson of intentionally lying about the safety of their formulas for preemies. Documents suggest both companies knew during development that their formulas posed substantial risk for NEC and yet both companies assured FDA regulators that their products most closely imitated breastmilk.
Aggressive marketing campaigns also assured parents that their products were safe, at times even suggesting their products were superior to human milk and undermining women’s confidence in breast feeding.3 To make matters worse, baby formulas are regulated differently from drugs. Formula is considered food, and the FDA does not have to approve it before the product is available for consumer use.
Controlling 80% of the infant nutrition field, Abbott & Mead Johnson have enormous resources and marketing power to influence what is used in hospital and NICU settings.
And that’s the problem.
In the 60 years since the launch of these formulas, none of the labels ever informed parents or doctors of the risks.
What Types of Formula Cause NEC?
Premature infant formula products made by Abbott Laboratories; Inc. (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) include the following:
- Similac
- Similac Special Care
- Similac Human Milk Fortifier
- Similac NeoSure
- Similac Alimentum
- Similac Alimentum Expert Care
- Similac Human Milk Fortifier Concentrated Liquid
- Similac Human Milk Fortifier Hydrolyzed Protein Concentrated Liquid
- Similac Human Milk Fortifier Powder
- Similac Liquid Protein Fortifier
- Similac Special Care 20
- Similac Special Care 24
- Similac Special Care 24 High Protein
- Similac Special Care 30
Premature infant formula products made by Mead include the following:
- Enfamil
- EnfaCare Powder
- Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier Liquid High Protein
- Enfamil Milk Fortifier Liquid Standard Protein
- Enfamil NeuroPro Enfacare
- Enfamil Premature 20 Cal
- Enfamil Premature 24 Cal
- Enfamil Premature 24 Cal/fl. oz. HP
- Enfamil Premature 30 Cal
- Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier Acidified Liquid
- Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier Powder
- Enfamil 24 and DHA & ARA Supplement
We Are Leading a Movement.
A Case for Women is an organization of women helping women. We are angry that big companies like the baby formula makers have made so much money pushing their products on women when breastfeeding, or the use of otherformulas, would have been much safer, especially for premature infants.
Safer alternatives have been available – don’t fall for the idea that there were/are no other options. Donor breast milk is widely available in hospitals. There are 31 Human Milk Banking Association of North America member milk banks distributed across the US. Additionally, Prolacta, a human milk-based formula, has been on the market since 2016.
Our goal is to help moms and dads take part in lawsuits that can help them receive compensation and, even more importantly, push formula and baby food makers to create safer foods for our children.
This legal representation is done on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you do not have to pay anything to get started and there is no financial risk.
Don’t wait.
Learn how you can join the lawsuit now.
We are here to help you.
LET US HELP
Sources
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Brendan Pierson, “Reckitt unit hit with $60 million verdict in Enfamil baby formula case in Illinois,” Reuters, March 15, 2024
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Jacob G. Ginglen, Nikolai Butki, “Necrotizing Enterocolitis”, NIH/NICB (National Institutes of Health), August 5, 2023
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Staff, “WHO reveals shocking extent of exploitative formula milk marketing,” WHO (World Health Organization), April 28, 2022
WE WEAR THIS BADGE PROUDLY. Because, in a time when legal services are still dominated by men, only a Women Owned Business can bring the woman’s perspective to issues that disproportionately affect women.
We are the ones, far more than men, who are injured by sexual assault, financial scams, the gender pay gap, toxic chemicals, and the misguided practices of powerful pharmaceutical companies.
