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Jury awards $495M in bellwether baby formula trial

ST. LOUIS RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Jury awards $495M in bellwether baby formula trial

State Court
Webp similac

Similac on a store shelf | File photo

A St. Louis jury awarded an Illinois mother nearly $500 million in a verdict against Abbott Laboratories after she claimed the company’s Similac was responsible for her daughter’s severe injuries.

The verdict was issued July 26 in St. Louis Circuit Court. The jury ordered Abbott to pay $95 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages. The company said it would appeal the ruling.

“There is no scientific evidence showing Abbott’s preterm infant products cause or contribute to causing NEC,” the company said in a 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. …

“Total revenues for these products are about $9 million annually and have remained at that level for the past several years. If these products were no longer available, physicians would be deprived of this vital food that is needed in the NICU.”

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