The plaintiff bar targets life-sustaining nutrition for premature infants
"‘Corporate greed” is a central campaign theme for both parties these days, yet strangely nobody is calling out the robber barons in the plaintiff bar. Witness their shakedown of Abbott Laboratories and Reckitt Benckiser for producing life-sustaining formula for pre-term infants, which could force the companies to pull their products from the market.
Plaintiff attorneys have filed hundreds of lawsuits against the two companies for failing to warn that their products allegedly increase the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening intestinal disease afflicting premature and low-birth-weight babies. The first trial against Abbott began earlier this month in St. Louis County, Mo.
The companies produce specialized formulas fortified with vitamins and ingredients that are specifically designed to address premature infants’ nutritional needs. The formulas are administered by doctors in the neonatal intensive care units because breast milk alone often doesn’t contain sufficient nutrients to sustain infants with low birth weights.
But no good product goes unpunished by the lawyers looking for their next jackpot. The lawsuits cite studies that find infants who are breast fed have a lower risk of NEC. But it’s unclear what causes NEC. The National Institutes of Health says the condition may result from immaturity of the intestines combined with “infection and inflammation” stemming “from the growth of dangerous bacteria.”
Scientists posit that breast milk may have particular properties that help prevent NEC. Recent randomized controlled trials show that the formulas and fortifiers don’t increase the incidence of NEC. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates baby formula and labels, hasn’t required manufacturers to warn about an increased risk of NEC.
That’s no obstacle to the plaintiff attorneys suing in friendly jurisdictions like St. Louis County. Juries are especially sympathetic to plaintiffs who have lost a child and are looking for someone to blame. In March an Illinois jury ordered Reckitt to pay $60 million to a woman whose premature infant died of NEC.
These lawsuit raids have consequences for the health of premature infants. Companies can’t change their formula or label it to avoid liability because the FDA regulates warnings, and the science doesn’t support the lawsuit claims. The only way to avoid potential liability would be to stop producing the formula.
Abbott CEO Robert Ford warned in a CNBC interview on Thursday that “if this product were no longer available,” there “would be a public health crisis.”
Abbott’s market valuation has fallen by some $30 billion since March. It makes only $9 million in revenue annually from the specialized formula, about 0.02% of its total sales last year. Reckitt’s stock price plunged 20% as investors extrapolated its potential liability from other lawsuits after the jury verdict.
The political class could help if it wanted to. FDA and NIH officials could vouch in court for the products’ safety. Congress could also create a liability shield for the baby formula, as some Members are seeking to do for Roundup herbicide to ensure the products stays on the market. Alas, the plaintiff bar owns the U.S. Senate, so parents of preemies may soon have to do without this life-sustaining nutrition."
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