Abbott Ordered to Pay $53 Million in NEC Baby Formula Trial as Punitive Damages Loom
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A Chicago jury ordered Abbott Laboratories to pay $53 million to the families of four premature infants who developed a life-threatening intestinal disease after being fed the company’s cow’s milk-based formula.
The verdict was delivered in Cook County Circuit Court and is another important step in the ongoing lawsuits over cow’s milk-based formulas for preterm newborns. The jury is meeting again today to consider punitive damages against the company.
Abbott was accused of selling its cow-milk-based formula to hospitals without proper warnings, even though the company knew about the risks. The infants, born between 2012 and 2019, survived but faced serious health problems.
Each family is set to receive between $7 million and $16 million to cover pain, suffering and long-term health issues.
What Is NEC?
NEC is a serious intestinal disease that mostly affects premature babies and has a mortality rate of more than 20%. The condition causes inflammation and the death of intestinal tissue. In severe cases, it can create a hole that allows dangerous bacteria to spread throughout the body. Even babies who survive NEC often have long-term problems, such as developmental delays and needing multiple surgeries.
A Pattern of Verdicts Against Abbott
Abbott has faced jury verdicts in NEC lawsuits before. In 2024, a jury in St. Clair County, Illinois, ordered Mead Johnson to pay $60 million to the mother of a premature baby who died after being fed Enfamil formula. A few months later, a St. Louis jury ordered Abbott to pay $495 million in damages. Both verdicts are being appealed.
The Cook County verdict is the second trial loss for Abbott and may open the door to more multi-plaintiff trials.
Whitney Ray Di Bona, an attorney and consumer safety advocate with Drugwatch.com, said the verdict sends a clear message to formula makers.
“Families of premature infants deserved honest information about what they were feeding their babies,” Di Bona said. “Abbott had a duty to warn, and the evidence shows they didn’t fulfill it. As long as families continue to be harmed and manufacturers continue to deny responsibility, these cases will keep going to trial, and juries will keep holding them accountable.”
Abbott said in a statement that it “respectfully but strongly” disagreed with the verdict and would appeal. The company said the decision is “out of step with the overwhelming consensus of the medical community and regulators” that preterm formula products are safe and necessary.
What Families Should Know
As of April 2026, there have been 782 baby formula lawsuits filed in the federal MDL in the Northern District of Illinois, led by Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer. Besides these federal cases, lawsuits are still being filed in state courts across the country.
