EDWARDSVILLE – Baby formula runs short on store shelves across the land, but baby formula litigation abounds in Madison County Circuit Court.
As of March 18, Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth presided over 169 claims that Abbott’s Similac and Mead Johnson’s Enfamil caused injuries and wrongful deaths to infants born prematurely.
As of May 17, Chief U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer at the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago presided over 52 plaintiffs by nationwide appointment.
Plaintiff attorneys Eric Holland of St. Louis and former chief circuit judge Ann Callis, now in the Granite City office of Holland’s firm, lead the local litigation.
The lawsuits claim that formula based on cow’s milk has a higher propensity to cause necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants than safer alternatives.
None of the 169 infants in the Madison County litigation was born or injured in the county, according to defense counsel Jason Rankin of the Hepler Broom firm.
Rankin argued in a brief in March that the suits posed a risk to public health.
“These products are safe and save lives,” he wrote.
“Without them, many more infants would die or suffer serious setbacks.
“Some weighed no more than a can of soup at the time of birth.”
Rankin wrote that a premature infant isn’t ready to digest food and absorb nutrients.
“Surmounting these difficulties to provide premature infants with sufficient nutrients is the most delicate of balancing acts,” he wrote.
“A team of specialists continuously monitors premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit for early signs of necrotizing enterocolitis among the many other things that can go wrong.
“The very existence of this litigation and counsel’s advertising campaign to recruit more plaintiffs is causing fear among parents.
“It is also endangering the relationships between parents and the neonatologists who are caring for their infants and who must decide whether and when to administer these products.”
Abbott and Mead Johnson moved for a more convenient forum last year. Ruth hasn’t held a hearing on their motion.
Abbott and Mead Johnson also petitioned the Supreme Court to transfer the Madison County suits to Cook County.
The Supreme Court denied it in April.
Ruth plans to hold five trials from next March to July 2024.
On the federal side, multi district judges in Washington granted consolidation in April and assigned Pallmeyer.
They found centralization would streamline pretrial proceedings, reduce duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent rulings, and conserve resources.
They chose Northern Illinois because more cases were pending there than in any other district and Abbott was based in the district.
They called Pallmeyer a seasoned jurist who is well versed in the complexities of multi district litigation.
She set a status conference May 12, but delayed it a week with an apology for serious technical difficulty.