Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious gastrointestinal problem that mostly affects premature babies. It causes intestinal tissue to die and a hole may form in the intestine. Bacteria can leak into the abdomen or bloodstream. Nearly all babies with NEC are prematurely born 9 out of 10. NEC has a fatality rate of 15% to 40%. It is evident that human milk feeding can reduce the incidence of NEC in premature babies, and it is normal clinical practice to use human milk for premature babies in most countries including the USA. Donor milk is normally used if the mother cannot breastfeed.
On March 14 (Reuters) – An Illinois jury ordered Reckitt unit Mead Johnson to pay $60 million to the mother of a premature baby who died of an intestinal disease after being fed the company’s Enfamil baby formula.
The jury in an Illinois state court in St. Clair County on Wednesday found that Mead Johnson was negligent and that it failed to warn of the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
The $60 million verdict includes compensation for plaintiff Jasmine Watson’s loss and grief, and for the pain and suffering of her baby, Chance Dean.
The verdict comes in the first trial out of hundreds of lawsuits claiming that various Enfamil and Abbott Laboratories’ Similac formulas caused NEC.
Mead Johnson said in a statement that it was disappointed with the verdict and would appeal it.
“We continue to believe that the allegations from the plaintiff’s lawyers in this case were not supported by the science or experts in the medical community,” it said.
More than 400 NEC lawsuits against Mead Johnson and Abbott are pending in federal court in Chicago, and others, like Watson’s are in state courts.
Reckitt Benckizer dropped USD 7bn (about 16%) in market value just after the verdict in Illinois.
In the USA, the FDA regulatory requirements address the safety, nutritional adequacy, packaging, and labeling of infant formula.
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