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Judge allows expert testimony in Abbott formula case

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Hundreds of state cases against Abbott and Reckitt

Benckiser ( RBGPF )

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American Academy of Pediatrics supports Abbott in appeal

By Diana Novak Jones and Brendan Pierson

May 2 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday said she

will allow expert testimony that formula made by Abbott

Laboratories ( ABT ) and Reckitt Benckiser ( RBGPF ) subsidiary

Mead Johnson for premature babies can cause a fatal intestinal

illness, as the companies face hundreds of lawsuits over the

claims.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in Chicago said she

will allow the experts to testify in future trials over claims

that cow's milk-based formulas made by Abbott and Mead Johnson

cause the illness in some premature babies.

But in a separate order issued on Friday, Pallmeyer sided

with Abbott in a lawsuit that was the first one slated to go to

trial next week in federal court out of more than 700 similar

cases that have been centralized in her court.

The judge said the family of RaiLee Mar, an infant who was

born prematurely and died of necrotizing enterocolitis after

receiving some of Abbott's formula, had failed to show that the

company's alleged failure to warn doctors and Mar's family about

the risks of the disease was the cause of Mar's illness or that

there was a reasonable alternative way the formula could have

been made.

Representatives for Abbott and Mead Johnson did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.

All of the lawsuits allege that the companies failed to warn

that their specialized formulas used by newborn intensive care

units in hospitals could cause necrotizing enterocolitis, a

disease that almost exclusively affects premature infants and

has an estimated mortality rate of more than 20%.

The companies have denied the claims, saying that while

breast milk protects against NEC, formula does not cause it, and

that the benefits of breast milk have long been known to

clinicians.

In addition to the federal cases, both companies face

hundreds of state court cases around the country, which have

already resulted in verdicts of $60 million against Abbott and

$495 million against Mead Johnson.

Both companies prevailed in the most recent trial, in

November. However, the judge in that case in March ordered a new

trial, finding that lawyers for the defendants had acted

improperly.

The litigation has raised alarm from many doctors who say it

could threaten the formulas' availability or affect medical

decisions.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently filed a brief

supporting Abbott in its appeal of the verdict against it last

year, saying that formula is part of the standard of care for

premature babies.

U.S. regulatory agencies and a working group of scientists

convened by the National Institutes of Health said in a joint

report last year that current evidence does not support the

hypothesis that formula causes necrotizing enterocolitis.