On July 2, Tucker Ellis secured a complete defense verdict for client Mead Johnson following a two-week trial in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis in the latest product liability case involving allegations related to premature infant formula and necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, a gastrointestinal disease that can be serious and can lead to severe injury or, in some instances, death.

The trial involved the mother of K.H., who was born at 25 weeks and 3 days in 2021 and later developed NEC after receiving Mead Johnson’s Enfamil Premature 24. Alleging that Mead Johnson’s formula caused her daughter to develop NEC, requiring surgery and leading to alleged lifetime injuries, the plaintiff requested $12 million in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages in closing arguments.

The jury returned a verdict fully in favor of Mead Johnson. In a post-verdict interview, the foreperson reported that the jury found against plaintiff on specific causation, which was the primary defense asserted at trial. The verdict came less than three weeks after an Illinois appellate court reversed a $60 million NEC-related verdict against Mead Johnson, holding that the learned intermediary doctrine applied to cow’s milk-based infant formula, as reported in Law.com.

The Tucker Ellis trial team was led by Charissa Walker and Sherry Knutson and included Maha Kabbash, Diana Katz Gerstel, Madeline Dennis, Giuseppe Pappalardo, Kelly Baldini, Lucy Zelina, Brooke Pauley, Emma Eaton, Jen Steinmetz, Cheska Tolentino, Brian Huelsmann, Jenn Mesko, Ethan Weber, Brianna Soltys, Ben Eldredge, Kristy Pluth, Cherie Bunevich, Sheri Rigas, Taryn Skeen, and Xavier Vaughn.