As of May 1, 2026, 797 cases were pending in the NEC Infant formula multidistrict litigation( MDL-3026 IN RE: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation)
quadriplegic cerebral palsy, seizures, and the need for lifelong care.
These are just a handful of thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil.
We talked to Sara Papantonio, a Levin Papantonio attorney who is overseeing NEC cases for the law firm, about recent momentum in the NEC litigation and how it could influence future trials and settlement discussions.
The Trial Lawyer: For quite a while, NEC litigation was viewed by many as a relatively quiet or niche mass tort. Why do you think the litigation was underestimated?
Papantonio: For years, NEC litigation was underestimated because these cases sit at the intersection of highly specialized neonatal medicine and products liability. A lot of people initially viewed NEC as a rare complication of prematurity rather than a preventable risk tied to product design, marketing, and warnings.
Defense narratives also benefited from the fact that premature infants are already medically fragile, which made many assume causation would be too complicated for juries to fully grasp. But what we have seen in recent trials is that juries are absolutely capable of understanding the science when it is presented clearly and honestly.
Sara Papantonio is an attorney at Levin Papantonio and focuses her practice on mass torts. She oversees NEC Infant Formula cases at the firm.
“ The recent appellate rulings and verdict affirmations are extremely significant because they reinforce that these cases belong in front of juries.”
--Sara Papantonio, Esq., Levin Papantonio
The Trial Lawyer: What do the recent verdicts signal to you about where these cases are heading?
Papantonio: The recent verdicts signal that juries are increasingly unwilling to accept the idea that companies can aggressively market cow’ s milk-based products for premature infants while minimizing or failing to adequately communicate known risks associated with NEC. These verdicts suggest this litigation is entering a much more mature and consequential phase.
The Trial Lawyer 87