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NEC baby formula lawsuit
Active federal MDL with 847 cases pending as of September 1, 2026; federal bellwether trials have so far favored the defendants, while state-court juries have returned large plaintiff verdicts and at least one has been reported settled. Federal MDL over claims that cow's-milk-based preterm infant formulas (Similac, Enfamil) increase the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis in premature babies.
The docket record
- Actions pending
- 847+22(+2.7%)
- Total actions, historical
- 1,057
- Change, 3 months
- +49(+6.1%)
- Change, 12 months
- +87(+11.4%)
- Docket
- MDL No. 3026
- Court
- Northern District of Illinois
- Transferee judge
- Rebecca R. PallmeyerU.S. District Judge
- Last report
- September 1, 2026
Source: JPML “Pending MDL Dockets by Actions Pending,” report dated September 1, 2026 · first in our series Jan 2024
Month-by-month figures, Jan 2024 to Sep 2026
| Report date | Actions pending | Change | Total, historical | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1, 2026 | 847 | +22 | 1,057 | |
| August 3, 2026 | 825 | +15 | 1,035 | |
| July 1, 2026 | 810 | +12 | 1,016 | |
| June 1, 2026 | 798 | +1 | 1,002 | |
| May 1, 2026 | 797 | +15 | 987 | |
| April 1, 2026 | 782 | +3 | 972 | |
| March 2, 2026 | 779 | +4 | 962 | |
| February 2, 2026 | 775 | +6 | 956 | |
| January 5, 2026 | 769 | −5 | 950 | |
| December 2, 2025 | 774 | +19 | 939 | |
| November 3, 2025 | 755 | −6 | 919 | |
| October 1, 2025 | 761 | +1 | 898 | |
| September 2, 2025 | 760 | +1 | 885 | |
| August 1, 2025 | 759 | +15 | 882 | |
| July 1, 2025 | 744 | +4 | 864 | |
| June 2, 2025 | 740 | +30 | 860 | |
| May 1, 2025 | 710 | +27 | 818 | |
| April 1, 2025 | 683 | +20 | 790 | |
| March 3, 2025 | 663 | +15 | 767 | |
| February 3, 2025 | 648 | +16 | 748 | |
| January 2, 2025 | 632 | +6 | 732 | |
| December 2, 2024 | 626 | +28 | 725 | |
| October 1, 2024 | 598 | +27 | 673 | |
| September 3, 2024 | 571 | +33 | 644 | |
| August 1, 2024 | 538 | +4 | 611 | |
| July 1, 2024 | 534 | +20 | 602 | |
| June 3, 2024 | 514 | +18 | 581 | |
| May 1, 2024 | 496 | +43 | 561 | |
| April 1, 2024 | 453 | +48 | 518 | |
| March 1, 2024 | 405 | +16 | 470 | |
| February 1, 2024 | 389 | +47 | 454 | |
| January 2, 2024 | 342 | 407 |
Full docket title: IN RE: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation. Programmatic record page: MDL 3026.
Where it stands
MDL 3026 remains an open, actively litigated multidistrict litigation before Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The JPML's pending-MDL report dated September 1, 2026 lists 847 actions pending, up 22 from a month earlier. In the federal MDL, Judge Pallmeyer granted summary judgment to the defense in the first bellwether cases to be tested (including a case captioned Diggs v. Abbott Laboratories decided in 2025), and a plaintiff-side news outlet reported the Seventh Circuit affirmed one of those defense wins in July 2026. A different case, Inman v. Mead Johnson, survived summary judgment on May 8, 2026, and plaintiff-side sources report the first federal bellwether trial in the MDL opened in early July 2026. Outside the MDL, state courts have produced large plaintiff verdicts: an Illinois state-court jury awarded $60 million in March 2024 in a case later ordered to a new trial by an Illinois appellate court (reported June 2026), a St. Louis, Missouri jury awarded $495 million in July 2024, and a Cook County, Illinois jury awarded a combined $70 million to four families in April 2026. Plaintiff-side and litigation-tracking outlets reported in August 2026 that Abbott reached a settlement tied to the Missouri verdict, but the reported terms (a single-case confidential settlement versus a larger multi-claimant fund) conflict between sources and no court order, SEC filing, or company press release confirming a total settlement figure was located as of this writing. No global MDL-wide settlement has been announced.
Sources: FDA Roundup: October 11, 2024 (FDA/CDC/NIH consensus stat… · Pending MDL Dockets By MDL Number, September 1, 2026 · Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit – Case Updates · Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) From Baby Formula; full list at the end of this page.
What the lawsuits are about
Plaintiffs in this litigation are parents of premature infants who allege that cow's-milk-based formulas and fortifiers made for preterm babies in neonatal intensive care units, principally Abbott's Similac Special Care and NeoSure and Mead Johnson's Enfamil Premature and EnfaCare, increase the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a serious intestinal disease. The complaints allege the manufacturers knew of studies linking cow's-milk-based feeding to elevated NEC risk in premature infants and did not adequately warn hospitals or parents. Abbott and Mead Johnson dispute that their products cause NEC and point to the products' decades of use and clinical necessity for infants who cannot receive enough human milk.
Lawsuits were filed individually across federal courts starting in 2021 and 2022. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the federal cases into MDL 3026, "IN RE: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation," in the Northern District of Illinois in April 2022, assigning the litigation to Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer. Separately, individual cases have also been filed and tried in state courts, notably in Missouri and Illinois, where several of the largest verdicts to date have been returned.
As of September 2026 the MDL has not settled. The first federal bellwether cases resulted in summary judgment for the defense, and a case that survived summary judgment (Inman v. Mead Johnson) reportedly went to trial in July 2026. State-court verdicts have been mixed and much larger in scale, including a $495 million Missouri verdict in 2024 and a $70 million Illinois verdict in 2026, alongside a $60 million Illinois verdict that was later ordered to a new trial. Case volume in the federal MDL continues to grow, reaching 847 pending actions as of the JPML's September 1, 2026 report.
Injuries named in the filings
- Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
- Death of a premature infant due to NEC or its complications
- Bowel injury requiring surgery, including short bowel syndrome
- Long-term neurodevelopmental injury following NEC
Principal defendants: Abbott Laboratories; Mead Johnson & Company, LLC (maker of Enfamil).
Sources: FDA Roundup: October 11, 2024 (FDA/CDC/NIH consensus stat… · Pending MDL Dockets By MDL Number, September 1, 2026 · Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit – Case Updates · Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) From Baby Formula; full list at the end of this page.
Who the filings say qualifies
Eligibility criteria below are as summarized by plaintiff-side legal sources describing the plaintiff fact sheet and case-intake requirements used in the MDL 3026 and related state-court litigation. The court's own plaintiff fact sheet order was not independently retrieved in this research pass; a human reviewer should confirm against the case management order docketed in MDL 3026 before this is used to gate an intake screener.
- Infant was born premature, generally before 37 weeks gestation, with the more severe verdicts and case narratives typically involving very low birth weight infants (under about 1,500 grams)
- Infant was fed a cow's-milk-based preterm formula or human-milk fortifier (e.g., Similac Special Care/NeoSure or Enfamil Premature/EnfaCare) while in a neonatal intensive care unit
- Infant was diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis during or after the NICU stay, documented in medical records
- Claim is supported by medical records establishing the feeding history and the NEC diagnosis and its severity
Source: Drugwatch, "Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit" (plaintiff-side summary of case intake criteria).
These are the criteria in the public record, not a promise about any individual case. A law firm evaluates each case on its own facts, and limitations periods vary by state.
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Key dates
- The JPML centralizes federal necrotizing enterocolitis baby-formula lawsuits into MDL 3026 in the Northern District of Illinois, assigned to Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer. Exact day of the transfer order was not independently confirmed in this research pass. source
- An Illinois state-court jury returns a $60 million verdict against Mead Johnson in a case involving the death of a premature infant. An Illinois appellate court later orders a new trial, per reporting in June 2026. source
- A St. Louis, Missouri jury returns a $495 million verdict against Abbott Laboratories in a state-court NEC case. source
- FDA, CDC, and NIH issue a joint consensus statement on premature infants and NEC, stating there is no conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes NEC, while human milk shows strong evidence of being protective. source
- Judge Pallmeyer grants summary judgment to the defense in early federal MDL bellwether cases, including Diggs v. Abbott Laboratories, preventing them from reaching a jury. source
- A Cook County, Illinois jury awards a combined $70 million to four families in a state-court case against Abbott, with individual awards reported between $7 million and $16 million. source
- Judge Pallmeyer denies summary judgment in Inman v. Mead Johnson, allowing the case to proceed toward trial. source
- Plaintiff-side sources report the first federal MDL bellwether trial opens in the Northern District of Illinois in Inman v. Mead Johnson. source
- JPML pending-MDL report lists 847 actions pending in MDL 3026, an increase of 22 from the prior month's report. source
Questions people ask
Does baby formula cause necrotizing enterocolitis?
That is the central disputed question in this litigation. Plaintiffs allege cow's-milk-based preterm formulas increase NEC risk in premature infants. In October 2024 the FDA, CDC, and NIH issued a joint consensus statement concluding there is no conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes NEC, while noting strong evidence that human milk is protective against it. The agencies said premature birth itself is the primary known risk factor and that important scientific gaps remain.
Is the NEC baby formula MDL still active or has it settled?
It is still active. As of the JPML's September 1, 2026 report, 847 cases are pending in MDL 3026 before Judge Pallmeyer in the Northern District of Illinois, and case volume is still growing. There is no confirmed global settlement of the MDL. Individual state-court verdicts (Missouri and Illinois) and at least one reported case-specific settlement have occurred outside the MDL, but sources conflict on the exact terms of that settlement.
What formulas are named in the NEC lawsuits?
The lawsuits center on cow's-milk-based products marketed for premature infants in NICUs, principally Abbott's Similac Special Care and Similac NeoSure and Mead Johnson's Enfamil Premature and EnfaCare, along with related human-milk fortifiers. Standard, full-term infant formulas are generally not the subject of this litigation.
Who might qualify to file an NEC baby formula claim?
Plaintiff-side sources describe intake criteria requiring that the infant was born premature (commonly before 37 weeks, with the largest cases involving very low birth weight babies), was fed a cow's-milk-based preterm formula or fortifier in the NICU, and was diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis, documented in medical records. This summarizes plaintiff-side intake criteria, not a confirmed court order; anyone considering a claim should have their specific medical records reviewed by counsel.
Have any NEC baby formula cases gone to trial?
Yes, in both state and federal court. State-court juries in Missouri (2024) and Illinois (2024 and 2026) have returned plaintiff verdicts ranging from $60 million to $495 million; the 2024 Illinois verdict was later sent back for a new trial. In the federal MDL, the first bellwether cases resulted in summary judgment for the defense, and a case that survived summary judgment, Inman v. Mead Johnson, reportedly went to trial in July 2026; no federal MDL bellwether had reached a jury verdict as of the most recent sources reviewed.
Did Abbott or Mead Johnson settle any NEC cases?
Plaintiff-side and litigation-tracking sources reported in August 2026 that Abbott reached a settlement connected to the $495 million Missouri verdict. Reported details of that settlement conflict between sources, and no court order, SEC filing, or company press release confirming a total settlement figure was located in this research pass. There is no reported global settlement covering the MDL as a whole.
Sources: FDA Roundup: October 11, 2024 (FDA/CDC/NIH consensus stat… · Pending MDL Dockets By MDL Number, September 1, 2026 · Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit – Case Updates · Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) From Baby Formula; full list at the end of this page.
Track this docket
We re-read the JPML report on the first business day of each month. Get an email when this record changes: case count, status, or a settlement development.
Sources
- U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, “Pending MDL Dockets by Actions Pending,” monthly reports January 2, 2024 to September 1, 2026. Transferee court: Northern District of Illinois, Rebecca R. Pallmeyer.
- FDA Roundup: October 11, 2024 (FDA/CDC/NIH consensus statement on NEC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed September 3, 2026.
- Pending MDL Dockets By MDL Number, September 1, 2026, U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Accessed September 3, 2026.
- Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit – Case Updates, Drugwatch.com (as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
- Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) From Baby Formula, Drugwatch.com (as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
- Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit | MDL-3026 Update, MDLupdate.com (litigation-tracking site, as summarized by plaintiff-side/litigation-tracking sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
- Infant Formula Lawsuit Update, Verus LLC (mass-tort claims administration, as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
- Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit, Seeger Weiss LLP (plaintiff law firm, as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
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