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.