Baby Formula
Popular Baby Formulas Linked to Deadly Intestinal Disease
Premature and low birth weight newborns often have trouble nursing or need extra nutrition. Baby foods like Similac and Enfamil are high-calorie, cow’s milk-based products that supply this supplemental nutrition, but do not warn parents of the increased risk that their infant may develop necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a serious gastrointestinal disorder. If not caught and treated immediately, NEC can be fatal.
What is Necrotizing Enterocolitis?
Necrotizing enterocolitis causes intestinal tissue to die. NEC can also cause holes in the intestine, which allows bacteria from the intestine to leak into an infant’s abdomen. NEC may also lead to the following serious health problems:
- Abdominal infection called peritonitis
- Sepsis
- Intestinal stricture, or narrowing of the intestines
- Short bowel syndrome, which makes it hard for the body to absorb fluids and nutrients
Even in cases where NEC is identified early and treated, the child may continue to suffer complication throughout its life.
Symptoms of NEC include:
- Abdominal pain and swelling
- Diarrhea with bloody stool
- Green or yellow vomit
- Changes in heart rate and blood pressure
- Changes in body temperature and breathing
- Refusing to eat
- Lack of weight gain
- Lethargy
Which baby formulas are involved?
- Similac Special Care, made by Abbott Laboratories
- Enfamil Human Milk Fortifier, made by Mead Johnson & Company
- Enfamil NeuroPro EnfaCare Infant Formula, made by Mead Johnson & Company
Studies Show a Link Between Baby Formula and NEC
Although a study from 2019 (Cochrane), suggested there was a roughly 50% increased risk of developing NEC in infants that consumed high-calorie, cow’s milk-based formulas, like Similac and Enfamil, as compared with infants who consumed breast milk, the labels of Similac and Enfamil still do not warn of this increased risk.
Our Lawyers Can Help
If your infant or the infant of a loved one was fed cow’s milk-based formula and suffered from necrotizing enterocolitis, the experienced attorneys at Ben Martin Law Group can help you get answers and justice. Call our firm at (214) 761-6641 or contact us for a free, confidential consultation. There is no obligation when you contact us. We will be able to explain your legal rights and the next steps toward holding the manufacturers accountable for the preventable devastation your family has suffered.
Ben Martin Law Group lawyers stand up to multinational and global corporations every day and we will fight to hold Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson & Company responsible for their failure to prevent infant injury and death from the use of these formulas.