A Missouri appellate court on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, left intact a $495 million jury verdict against Abbott Laboratories in a closely watched lawsuit over preterm infant formula and necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC. The award, originally handed down by a St. Louis jury in July 2024, includes $95 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages, keeping in place one of the largest verdicts so far in a growing wave of lawsuits targeting specialized NICU formulas.
The suit was filed by Margo Gill on behalf of her daughter, Robynn Davis, who was born at about 26 weeks in 2021 and later developed NEC that left her with permanent disabilities, according to the Chicago Tribune. The St. Louis jury found that Abbott’s Similac product contributed to Davis’s illness and returned an award of $95 million in compensatory damages and $400 million in punitive damages in July 2024. Abbott has said it "strongly disagrees" with the outcome and intends to seek further appellate review, the Tribune reports.
Where the science stands
Federal health officials are not ready to say these products directly cause NEC. In a joint statement, the FDA, CDC and NIH said "there is no conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes NEC" and stressed that human milk offers protective benefits while significant research gaps remain, according to the FDA. That more cautious regulatory stance has not stopped juries around the country from weighing expert testimony and internal company records in their own way inside the courtroom.
How this ruling fits into a larger litigation wave
Abbott is now staring down more than 1,700 lawsuits in federal and state courts over preterm formulas, and several juries have already delivered sizable verdicts in recent years, industry coverage shows. Reporting by KFF Health News and Insurance Journal details how internal documents and hospital contracting practices have become central characters in the trial stories juries are hearing.
Legal fallout and next steps
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue the appellate decision will energize state-court claims and turn up the heat on Abbott in any settlement talks, while the company has repeated that it will keep pressing its appellate challenges, according to the Chicago Tribune. The case could influence the federal multidistrict litigation that groups many NEC lawsuits together and affect how judges handle expert witnesses and fights over where cases should be heard. For now, families, hospitals and investors are watching to see whether higher courts narrow the evidence that future juries will be allowed to review.
What parents and hospitals should know
Clinicians continue to favor human milk whenever it is available, but federal guidance still says specialized preterm formulas remain an important option when maternal or donor milk are not on the table, according to the FDA. NICU feeding choices depend on an infant’s specific medical condition and the availability of donor milk, so policies can look different from hospital to hospital. Parents concerned about feeding decisions or the long-term care of infants affected by NEC are urged to talk with their child’s medical team and, if they are weighing legal options, to seek advice from attorneys experienced in complex product-liability cases.
