Abbott Laboratories was ordered by a jury to pay almost $500 million over allegations that it hid the risk that its premature-infant formula can cause a potentially fatal bowel disease, according to lawyers for the mother who won the first case against the company to go to trial.
Jurors in state court in St. Louis on Friday awarded $95 million to compensate the family for its losses and $400 million in punitive damages, according to Tor Hoerman, the lead lawyer for the plaintiff.
An Abbott spokesman said the company “strongly disagreed” with the verdict and noted that it was not unanimous. “We will pursue all avenues to have the erroneous decision overturned,” Scott Stoffel said in an emailed statement.
The case was brought on behalf a premature baby girl who developed necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, and allegedly suffered brain damage after being fed Abbott’s Similac Special Care 24, a cow’s milk-based formula. The trial that kicked off this month is among more than 1,000 such claims against Abbott and other formula makers.
“Justice was served for Margo Gill and her daughter Robynn, who suffered severe, irreversible brain damage due to Abbott’s misconduct,” Hoerman’s law firm said in a statement. “Abbott has known for years that its cow’s milk-based formula causes necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature babies, and families like the Gills had their lives changed forever due to the company’s refusal to warn families and physicians.”
Abbott didn’t mention the NEC risks on the product label and didn’t inform parents that their children could face brain damage or death from being fed the formula, a lawyer for the mother told jurors at the start of the trial.
In Abbott’s defense, a lawyer for the company argued at the trial that the formula doesn’t cause NEC and that Gill’s baby had pre-existing health issues.
Stoffel disputed the link between infant formula and NEC.
“There is no scientific evidence showing Abbott’s preterm infant products cause or contribute to causing NEC,” he said in the statement. “Specialized formulas and fortifiers, like the one in this case, are part of the standard of care by the medical community and, along with mother’s milk and donor human milk, are the only available options to feed premature infants.”
In March, an Illinois jury ordered a unit of Enfamil-formula maker Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc to pay $60 million to the family of a premature baby who died after being fed the UK-based company’s cow’s milk-based product. Reckitt’s shares plunged 15% in the wake of the verdict. The company said at the time it would appeal.
The case is Gill v. Abbott, 2322-CC01251, Missouri 22nd Judicial Circuit (St. Louis).
Photo: Photographer: Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg
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