A Pointe Coupee Parish resident whose preterm infant died in the hospital after being fed cow’s-milk-based infant formula is suing the maker of Enfamil, arguing that the formula caused the baby to suffer from necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
Plaintiff William Peebles filed the federal lawsuit Sept. 20 in the Middle District of Louisiana against infant formula manufacturer Mead Johnson, whose parent company is Reckitt Co. The complaint contends that Peebles’ daughter, Baby Lillian, developed NEC, an often fatal intestinal disease that leads to inflammation and perforation of the gut, after being fed the cow’s-milk-based products.
Reckitt and Illinois-based Mead Johnson, which market the products nationwide, dispute the arguments in the lawsuit.
“Mead Johnson has been helping nourish babies for over 100 years,” a company statement emailed to the Louisiana Record says. “Mead Johnson is saddened to hear of the death of any infant and expresses its deepest sympathy to the family. Mead Johnson denies the allegations of the lawsuit, and otherwise does not comment on pending litigation.”
The lawsuit cites numerous medical studies saying that cow’s-milk-formula-fed preterm babies suffer higher rates of NEC than infants who are breastfed.
“Significantly higher rates of NEC have been found in premature or preterm babies with low birth weights who are fed cow’s-milk-based formula or fortifier products,” the lawsuit states. “The companies who manufacture these products often intentionally mislabel and misrepresent the contents of the products both to the public at-large and to the health care community, passing off these deadly products as something similar to or even superior to human breast milk.”
A 1990 study involving more than 900 preterm infants concluded that NEC was six to 10 times more prevalent in babies fed exclusively formula compared to babies fed only breast milk, according to the complaint. And a study released in 2009 found that preterm infants who were fed only a diet based on human milk were 90% less likely to require surgery for NEC compared to those infants fed on a regimen that included products made with cow’s milk.
Peebles’ claims against Mead Johnson include negligence, willful and wrongful conduct in regard to the design of their products and a failure to warn consumers about the hazards of the infant formula.