Nutrition US baby milk manufacturer Abbott fined 495 million dollars

A court in the US state of Missouri has ordered the pharmaceutical company Abbott Nutrition to pay 495 million US dollars. Previously, a baby milk powder manufactured by the company had possibly caused a serious intestinal disease in a baby.

The case, which was heard on Friday evening (local time) in the city of St. Louis, is one of numerous lawsuits against Abbott Nutrition over allegations of health damage caused by the milk, as reported by the website Courtroom View Network.

According to the website, the baby milk powder for premature babies is suspected of increasing the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis - an intestinal disease that is feared in premature babies. According to the ruling, Abbott Nutrition must make a compensation payment of 95 million US dollars and pay a fine of 400 million US dollars.

The plaintiff was Margo Jill, a mother from the US state of Illinois. She accuses the company of failing to warn that its milk powder made from cow's milk could cause this serious infection in premature babies.

Permanent damage

Their daughter developed necrotizing enterocolitis in 2021 after being fed Abbott's Similac brand formula in intensive care, local TV station KSDK reported. Little Robynn survived, but suffered irreversible - i.e. permanent - damage.

There is no scientific evidence that Abbott's products for premature babies cause or contribute to necrotizing enterocolitis, a company spokesman said. The company's CEO, Robert Ford, had also described the case as a "theory without foundation or scientific basis". Abbott Nutrition did not specify whether it will withdraw the product.