The case, which was heard on Friday evening (local time) in the city of Saint-Louis, is one of numerous lawsuits against Abbott Nutrition alleging health damage caused by the milk, the website Courtroom View Network reported.
According to the ruling, the baby milk powder for premature babies is suspected of increasing the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis – an intestinal disease that is feared in premature babies. According to the ruling, Abbott Nutrition must pay compensation of 95 million US dollars and a fine of 400 million US dollars.
Margo Jill, a mother from Illinois, filed the lawsuit. She accuses the company of failing to warn that its milk powder made from cow’s milk can cause this serious infection in premature babies.
Irreversible damage
Her daughter developed necrotizing enterocolitis in 2021 after being fed Abbott’s Similac brand in the intensive care unit, local television station KSDK reported. Little Robynn survived, but suffered irreversible damage.
“We disagree with this ruling (…) and continue to believe that Robynn’s condition is a tragedy for which no one is responsible,” company spokesman Scott Stoffel told AFP news agency. There is no scientific evidence that Abbott’s products for premature babies cause or contribute to necrotizing enterocolitis, Stoffel added.
The company’s CEO, Robert Ford, also called the case a “theory without foundation or scientific basis.” Abbott Nutrition did not say whether it would withdraw the product.
