Mother sues baby formula producer Abbott for child’s premature death

Suit claims Abbott Laboratories knew formula was risky for preterm infants

As a baby formula shortage strains families nationwide, a New Jersey woman is suing formula-maker Abbott Laboratories, claiming the company falsely advertised its products as safe for preterm babies, and alleging that it led to the unnecessary death of her child earlier this year.

Nicola Cresap’s daughter Kennedy Hayes was born in December 2021 and was soon put in neonatal care at Morristown Medical Center, where the child weighed in at just 1 pound, 9 ounces.

There, she was fed a combination of breast milks and baby formula made by Abbott, including its products Similac Special Care 24 High Protein and 30 High Protein.

By March, the baby came down with necrotizing enterocolitis, an often fatal gastrointestinal condition in premature newborns.

This prompted surgeons to go in and remove her intestines, which led to multi-system organ failure and cardiac arrest.

The federal suit, filed in Chicago, claims that Abbott knew its formula was unsafe for preterm babies and was “significantly increasing” the chance of unnecessary deaths, but failed to warn health regulators or doctors about the widely used products.

The complaint is part of a consolidated nationwide group of federal lawsuits against Abbott and another company involving nearly 40 separate claims across at least seven different districts.

"Abbott has spent decades researching, developing, testing and producing formulas for premature infants, and countless infants have benefited tremendously from these formulas," Karen Twigg May, a spokesperson for Abbott, told the Morristown Daily Record. "These allegations are without merit."

The suits are the latest challenge for Abbott, after a recall from one of its Michigan plants helped cause a baby shortage formula around the country.

The Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act and used military planes to increase emergency supplies of formula, a product that’s been impacted severely by the global supply chain disruptions of the pandemic.