July 8 (Reuters) - Similac baby formula maker Abbott

is expected to face a trial on Monday over claims that

its formula for preterm infants used in neonatal intensive care

units causes a potentially deadly bowel disease, the second

trial out of hundreds of similar lawsuits in the United States.

Lawyers for the company and for Illinois resident Margo Gill

will make their opening statements to jurors in St. Louis,

Missouri, and the trial is expected to last most of the rest of

the month. Gill alleges in the lawsuit that her premature infant

child developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) as a result of

being fed Abbott's products for premature babies.

NEC, which causes the death of bowel tissue, mostly affects

newborns and has a fatality rate of between 15% and 40%. Gill's

child survived, but suffers long-term health problems, according

to the lawsuit.

Like all of the lawsuits over NEC, the case involves formula

and products for fortifying mother's milk given to infants in

hospital settings, not ordinary formula available to consumers

in stores.

"Specialized formulas and fortifiers, like the one in

this case, are considered part of the standard of care by the

medical community and, along with human milk, are the only

available options to feed premature infants," Abbott said in a

statement.

The company said that Gill's child "suffered from a

traumatic brain injury in utero and at birth, long before she

was fed any Abbott products," and that "no one is to blame" for

her condition.

Close to 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against Abbott,

Enfamil formula maker Reckitt Benckiser ( RBGPF ) or both in

federal or state courts alleging that cow's milk-based formula

products for premature infants caused NEC. More than 500 are

centralized in an Illinois federal court, with others pending in

Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

The lawsuits claim that the companies failed to warn that

infants given their products are at greater risk of NEC compared

to infants who are breast-fed or given donor milk or human

milk-derived formula.

Reckitt and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately

comment.

The first lawsuit to go to trial, against Reckitt in

Illinois, ended with a $60 million jury verdict in March.

Reckitt is appealing that verdict and has argued that the

plaintiff's case relied on unsound expert testimony.

The litigation has concerned investors. Reckitt's share

price fell about 15% after the verdict, and Abbott's about 4%.

Both stocks have remained depressed, although analysts at

JPMorgan and Barclays have said they believe the companies'

ultimate liability is likely to be small.

The NEC Society, a patient-led non-profit organization

working to combat the disease, has criticized the lawsuits,

saying that "feeding decisions should be made at patients'

bedsides, not in courtrooms." The group has no financial or

other relationship with Abbott or Reckitt, according to a

spokesperson.

The NEC lawsuits are separate from ongoing litigation

against Abbott over the shutdown of its Sturgis, Michigan, plant

and subsequent recall of batches of baby formula for possible

contamination, which contributed to a nationwide formula

shortage in 2022. There have been no trials in those cases.