Similac NEC Lawsuit: Abbott Laboratories and Similac Special Care Formula

About Abbott Laboratories and Similac Special Care

Abbott Laboratories is one of the world's largest healthcare and nutrition companies, headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. Abbott's nutritional division manufactures the Similac line of infant formulas, including several products specifically designed and marketed for use in Neonatal Intensive Care Units with premature and low-birthweight infants. The primary Similac product at issue in NEC litigation is Similac Special Care — a cow's milk-based premature infant formula available in multiple caloric densities (20, 24, and 30 calories per ounce) and marketed to hospitals and NICUs for tube and bottle feeding of very preterm infants. Other implicated Similac products include Similac Human Milk Fortifier (a bovine-derived fortifier added to breast milk) and Similac NeoSure. Abbott aggressively marketed these products to NICUs and neonatology practices nationwide, providing hospital formulary placement, educational materials, and research funding — even as the independent scientific literature increasingly documented the NEC risk associated with bovine milk proteins in the premature gut.

What the Litigation Against Abbott Alleges

Plaintiffs in the MDL and in state court cases allege that Abbott: (1) knew or should have known of the elevated NEC risk associated with Similac Special Care and its other cow's milk-based premature formulas; (2) failed to provide adequate warnings to neonatologists, NICU nurses, hospitals, and parents regarding this risk; (3) failed to recommend pasteurized donor breast milk as a safer alternative when mother's own milk was unavailable; (4) misrepresented or downplayed the significance of the NEC risk in its marketing and educational materials; and (5) prioritized commercial interests over the safety of the most vulnerable patient population in medicine. Internal Abbott documents produced in discovery have shed light on the company's internal awareness of the NEC research — documents that plaintiffs' counsel argue demonstrate that Abbott had actual knowledge of the risk and failed to act appropriately.

Identifying Whether Your Baby Received Similac

If your premature baby was admitted to a NICU and received formula supplementation, the specific product used should be documented in the nursing flowsheets (feeding logs). The product name, manufacturer, and caloric density are typically recorded. If you do not have these records, an attorney can obtain them through a HIPAA-compliant medical records request or, after litigation is filed, through formal discovery. Hospital formulary records and purchasing contracts can also identify which Abbott or Mead Johnson products were used by the NICU during the relevant period. Even if you are uncertain which formula your baby received, contact an attorney — the investigation can establish this information.

Abbott's Defense and the MDL Proceedings

Abbott's primary defense is that NEC is a multifactorial disease and that the scientific evidence does not establish that its products cause NEC in any specific infant. Abbott argues that prematurity itself is the primary risk factor for NEC and that its products are prescribed and administered by physicians who are aware of the relevant risks. Abbott also argues federal preemption — the theory that FDA oversight of infant formula preempts state product liability claims. Courts have largely rejected the preemption defense in the NEC context, and the MDL is proceeding on the merits. The bellwether trial results, including the $65 million verdict in Ndambi v. Abbott in July 2024, indicate that juries are receptive to the plaintiffs' scientific and legal theories.