CVN screenshot of defense attorney James Hurst delivering his opening statement on July 9
St. Louis, MO - Closing arguments begin Friday in a closely watched trial over the alleged health risks associated with cows milk-based baby formula, and the proceedings will be webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The trial underway in St. Louis courtroom is just the second ever to take place involving allegations that cows-milk-based baby formula given to premature infants causes a dangerous bowel condition called necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, which involves inflammation of the intestines and the potential death of colon tissue.
Opening statements in the Missouri case began on July 9, and the full proceedings to date have been recorded gavel-to-gavel by CVN and are available for on-demand viewing. The first NEC baby formula trial ended in a $60 million plaintiff verdict in Illinois state court, however formula manufacturers maintain their products safely provide critically needed nourishment to premature infants.
The Illinois trial involved Mead Johnson’s Enfamil formula, while the ongoing Missouri trial involves Abbott’s Similac brand formula. Thousands of other lawsuits involving both manufacturers are pending throughout the United States, including federal multidistrict litigation centralized in Illinois with a bellwether trial set for early 2025.
In the ongoing trial, plaintiff Margo Gill claims that her premature daughter suffered devastating health effects from NEC after receiving formula in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her lawyers have focused throughout the trial on Abbot’s efforts to market their formula to hospitals, supposedly without adequate warnings about the risks of NEC.
Abbot’s lawyers have attributed Gil’s daughters’ medical issues to a “major hypoxic event” suffered during birth. They explained that she had numerous pulmonary hemorrhages and surgeries before receiving any Similac and stressed that Similac is given to babies already in precarious health.
Friday's closings are expected to begin at roughly 9am local time in Judge Michael Noble’s 22nd Circuit courtroom.
Margot Gill, on behalf of herself and her minor child R.D. v. Abbott Laboratories, et al., case number 2322-CC01251.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com