After a Year of Setbacks, Will the Baby Formula Lawsuits Get Back on Track in 2026?
Going into 2025, things were looking positive for hundreds of active baby formula lawsuits. Those cases, which are centered on claims that certain formulas could cause a dire intestinal issue in premature infants, had already seen a couple of huge wins in early state court trials.
But once it was time for the first federal cases to go before juries, things quickly changed.
Over the course of this year, the judge overseeing these lawsuits halted three different bellwether cases from advancing to trial, repeatedly ruling in favor of formula maker Abbott Laboratories on summary judgment.
With one more bellwether case remaining on the schedule and a new wave of trials being prepared for next fall, 2026 is shaping up to be a critical year for this litigation.
Why the Baby Formula Lawsuits Have Failed to Advance to Trial
The baby formula lawsuits claim that some formulas, when fed to premature infants, could heighten the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). According to Cleveland Clinic, this is a serious intestinal condition where a hole can form in the infant’s intestines, allowing for the spread of harmful bacteria.
This condition can be fatal, and some of the lawsuits involve cases where the infant did not survive.
One key issue that has held up these cases has been the question of whether or not there was a “feasible alternative” available for premature infants. For some of these lawsuits to succeed, lawyers representing parents and guardians who have filed cases must demonstrate that companies like Abbott could have provided a safer option but didn’t.
That has been difficult to prove so far. In the most recent bellwether case, a health care economist serving as an expert for Abbott said that 62,000 premature infants could have gone unfed from 2010 to 2022 if formula options like Abbott’s Similac were not available.
Other bellwether cases have also failed after the judge opted to dismiss key testimony by experts that backed the plaintiffs’ claims.
The outcomes of these early cases matter because they can impact the wider litigation. When hundreds of similar lawsuits are filed, a handful are selected to serve as bellwethers.
They are meant to be representative of all the lawsuits, and how they play out gives both sides an opportunity to better understand the strength of their cases.
The outcome of those trials can influence settlement negotiations for other cases.
What Comes Next for the Baby Formula NEC Lawsuits
One more bellwether trial remains on the schedule, and it will be a bit different from the previous three. Instead of Abbott, it will involve Mead Johnson and the company’s Enfamil formula.
Additionally, work is underway to prepare a second wave of bellwether cases involving Abbott. The plan is for the first of those to advance to the trial stage by August 2026.
However, given the lack of success these lawsuits have seen at the federal level, more cases could be filed directly in state courts where plaintiffs have earned major wins.
In 2024, a St. Louis jury awarded a massive $495 million to the family of an infant who developed NEC. Just a few months before that, an Illinois jury issued a $60 million verdict in a similar case.
The outcome of the final bellwether, along with the upcoming second wave of cases, will likely play a role in where other cases are filed.
