https://www.reuters.com/legal/reckitt-u ... 024-03-14/The market really didn't like this.
"March 14 (Reuters) - An Illinois jury has ordered Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L), opens new tab unit Mead Johnson to pay $60 million to the mother of a premature baby who died of an intestinal disease after being fed the company's Enfamil baby formula.
The jury in an Illinois state court in St. Clair County on Wednesday found that Mead Johnson was negligent and that it failed to warn of the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The disease, which causes the death of bowel tissue, mostly affects premature newborns and has a fatality rate of about 15% to 40%."
"Mead Johnson said in a statement that it was disappointed with the verdict and would appeal it.
"We continue to believe that the allegations from the plaintiff's lawyers in this case were not supported by the science or experts in the medical community," it said."
"More than 400 NEC lawsuits against Mead Johnson and Abbott are pending in federal court in Chicago, and others, like Watson's are in state courts.
Plaintiffs in the cases say that the companies concealed the fact that their formula, including products made specifically for premature infants and others, was riskier than alternatives like donor milk.
The companies have denied the allegations.
The NEC lawsuits are separate from ongoing litigation against Abbott over the shutdown of its Sturgis, Michigan, plant and subsequent recall of batches of baby formula for possible contamination, which contributed to a nationwide formula shortage in 2022."