St. Louis Jury Finds for Mead Johnson, Abbott in Preterm Infant Formula Case

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri jury has found in favor of Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. and Abbott Laboratories in a case in which a woman alleged her son developed a potentially deadly bowel disease after being fed the defendants’ preterm infant formulas.

Judge Michael Noble of the St. Louis Circuit Court presided over the trial, which began in late September. The plaintiff sought more than $6 billion.

Elizabeth Whitfield alleged that her son, Kaine, developed necrotizing entercolitis (NEC) as a result of being fed the defendants’ preterm infant formulas after he was born premature at less than 28 weeks. The …