Keller Postman Secures $70 Million in Verdicts for All Four Plaintiffs in Historic Abbott Formula Trial

CHICAGO, April 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Keller Postman has secured a jury verdict of $70 million for four infants who suffered necrotizing enterocolitis ("NEC") as a result of being fed Similac Special Care. Defendant Abbott Laboratories, which manufactures Similac Special Care, was held liable by a unanimous jury for the defective design of its product, for failing to warn of the risk of NEC posed by it, and for the company's negligence leading to the infants' injuries.

"The jury's verdicts on behalf of these four infants confirm once again what Abbott has known for years and chosen to ignore: that Abbott's cow's milk-based formula causes NEC in premature infants, often with devastating and irreversible consequences. Four families walked into that courtroom asking for justice, and four families received it. We are so proud to have stood beside them, and we are not done," said Ben Whiting, Senior Partner at Keller Postman.

"For decades, Abbott Laboratories has shown a flagrant disregard for the health of the most fragile infants," said Amelia Frenkel, Partner at Keller Postman. "We hope that this verdict is a wakeup call to the company: Business as usual cannot continue. Safety has to come first for every preterm baby born today and tomorrow and into the future."

The four cases were filed on behalf of four pre-term babies born at Chicago-area hospitals. They are among more than 1,700 lawsuits Abbott faces nationally over whether its cow's milk-based preterm infant formula causes NEC — a life-threatening condition in which tissue lining the intestine becomes inflamed and dies. This is the first time Abbott has faced a verdict in Illinois state court.

Today's verdict builds on Keller Postman's landmark 2024 victory — a $60 million jury verdict against Mead Johnson, the first trial ever to hold a cow's milk-based formula manufacturer accountable for causing NEC in premature infants. Together, these outcomes send an unmistakable message: manufacturers who have long known of the dangers of their products and continued to market them to the most vulnerable infants will be held accountable.

Keller Postman is representing thousands of families across the United States, with cases filed in Illinois, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. The firm will continue to litigate aggressively to ensure that its clients receive just compensation and that future parents are fully informed that breast milk, donor milk, and human milk-based formulas offer safer alternatives to defendants' products for preterm infants.

Keller Postman's attorney team includes partners Ben Whiting and Amelia Frenkel, counsel Jamie Price, and associate Laura Shannon. At trial, they were joined by an Olson Grimsley trial team including Sean Grimsley, Kenzo Kawanabe, Abigail Hinchcliff, and Samara Hoose.

About Keller Postman: Keller Postman is a national law firm dedicated to representing plaintiffs in the largest and most significant mass actions in the country. The firm's first-class legal team committed case managers, and tech-forward approach to complex litigation allow Keller Postman to outwork and out-innovate the other side. Its attorneys consistently deliver justice to families, consumers, veterans, and others injured by powerful defendants.

SOURCE Keller Postman LLC