Following a $60 million verdict in downstate Illinois on behalf of the parents of a twin who died from tainted baby formula, hundreds of parents are awaiting trial against some formula makers where medical research has linked their cow milk-based product to a dangerous neonatal medical condition known as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
NEC is an intestinal disorder causing intestinal inflammation that may cause holes in the intestine. Bacteria from the intestine can leak into the abdomen or blood, causing serious illness or deadly blood infections.
These newborn NEC formula lawsuits generally allege that the makers of these formulas knew of the risk of NEC and did nothing to warn families and continued to market them as safe.
Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, authored an informative column on the pending cases in federal district court.
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October announced it had adopted guidelines in response to the massive baby formula recall and shortage in 2022 linked to a deadly pathogen. Authorities say new federal guidelines aimed at strengthening oversight and regulation of the U.S. powdered infant formula market are making an impact. In August 2023, the FDA issued letters of warning to three infant formula manufacturers as part of the agency’s ongoing commitment to enhance regulatory oversight to ensure the industry is producing infant formula under the safest conditions possible.”
Read more about this serious issue in Clifford’s latest column in the Chicago Lawyer, “Taking Shape.”