Understanding NEC Baby Formula Lawsuits

Perhaps you have heard of the NEC baby formula lawsuits where manufacturers of baby formulas are being sued due to failure to warn parents and medical personnel about a potentially serious disease known as necrotizing enterocolitis. Necrotizing enterocolitis is a disease that affects the intestines of a newborn, usually babies that are premature or who have other health issues. NEC is rare among full-term, healthy babies, and is also not often found among babies who are exclusively breastfed.

A baby with necrotizing enterocolitis will have inflamed intestines that can potentially lead to intestinal damage and death. Even though neonatal care has significantly improved over the past few decades, the mortality rate associated with NEC has not significantly improved in nearly 60 years. Necrotizing enterocolitis affects 7,000 babies in the United States each year. While babies with a mild case of NEC may be treated successfully and have no further issues, those who require surgery to remove the portion of the intestines that has dead tissue may have long-term health and developmental issues, or could even die.

Most parents have never heard of NEC—until their baby is diagnosed with the disease, usually from three days to four weeks after birth. Necrotizing enterocolitis can strike suddenly and progress rapidly. When premature infants are fed a cow’s milk-based formula—either as their only source of nutrition or in conjunction with breast milk in an attempt to put weight on the preterm infant—NEC can develop. Necrotizing enterocolitis may be treated medically, or it may be treated surgically—or both.

All feedings will be stopped once NEC is diagnosed, and your baby will receive nutrients and liquids through an IV. A nasogastric tube that goes from the mouth into the stomach may be placed to keep the intestines empty, and antibiotics may be given. Blood tests and X-rays will be done regularly to check the baby’s progress. In more severe cases of NEC surgical intervention may be necessary. Your baby will be given general anesthesia, and the abdomen will be opened to remove dead portions of the intestine.

Alternatively, a rubber drain will be placed into the abdomen to allow drainage of the damaged material, then surgery is usually done hours or days later. The most severe cases of necrotizing enterocolitis are known as NEC Totalis—which is almost always fatal. Babies who survive necrotizing enterocolitis may have to deal with medical issues like short bowel syndrome, failure to thrive, malabsorption, cholestasis, strictures, adhesions, and neurodevelopmental delays that can include hearing and vision issues as well as cerebral palsy.

The Most Common Necrotizing Enterocolitis Signs and Symptoms

Parents of an infant are often the first to notice the signs and symptoms of necrotizing enterocolitis. Your baby’s tummy may seem bloated or distended or could be red, bright pink, or purple. When you touch your baby’s belly, there may be tender spots. Infants with necrotizing enterocolitis may vomit green fluids or have blood in their stools. Feedings of a baby with NEC may stay in the stomach, rather than moving through the intestines as they normally would. Your baby may be unusually lethargic, irritable, or sluggish, could have a low heart rate, low blood pressure, and may be having trouble breathing.

Your baby’s doctor may look for a bubbly appearance in the abdomen on an X-ray, as well as signs of air or gas in the large veins of the liver. Air could also show up outside the intestines, in the abdomen. In some cases, the doctor may insert a needle into the baby’s abdomen to withdraw intestinal fluid from the abdomen—a sign there is a hole in the baby’s intestines. The extent of the NEC, along with your baby’s medical history, overall health, and gestational age will determine the treatment(s) used for your infant’s NEC. Isolation procedures to keep the infection from spreading may be implemented. Your baby may be able to continue normal feeding from 5-7 days after surgery, but this is not always the case.

How the Alaska NEC Statute of Limitations Could Affect Your Similac and Enfamil Lawsuit

If your baby developed necrotizing enterocolitis after being given a cow’s milk-based formula by hospital staff, you may be able to file a baby formula lawsuit. Across the United States, each state has what is known as statutes of limitations in place that provide a window of time in which a plaintiff must bring a claim or be barred from ever doing so. Each state sets its own statutes of limitations.

These statutes may be the same from one type of claim to another or may differ. Some states incorporate the Discovery Rule, which can extend the statute when an injury is not discovered until after the statute has run. Regarding product liability claims, some states also have statutes of repose that can extend the amount of time dictated by the statute according to when a product was manufactured, distributed, bought, or sold. In the state of Alaska, the following statutes apply:

• Wrongful death claims must be brought within two years in Alaska, beginning from the date of the death. When the cause of the death is not immediately apparent, the Discovery Rule may apply. Alaska recognizes the Discovery Rule which provides that a claim accrues when the plaintiff has sufficient information to alert a reasonable person to file a claim and protect his or her rights.
• A personal injury claim in Alaska has a two-year statute, however, when an injury is not obvious immediately and it isn’t fair or reasonable to expect a person to file a lawsuit within the window of time, the Discovery Rule applies, mandating that the statute will not begin until the plaintiff discovers—or reasonably should have discovered—the injury. In the state of Alaska, personal injury actions include medical malpractice and product liability claims.

If you are unsure how the Alaska statutes of limitations may apply to your NEC baby formula lawsuit, talking with an experienced NEC baby formula lawsuit lawyer can be extremely beneficial. Your attorney can explain how the statutes of limitations may affect you and how much time you have in which to file your claim.

How You Could Benefit from Speaking to an Experienced NEC Baby Formula Lawsuit Attorney

You can garner many benefits from speaking to a knowledgeable NEC baby formula lawsuit lawyer from Sullo & Sullo. A Similac lawsuit can help you pay the medical expenses associated with your baby’s NEC diagnosis. Even if you are insured, you likely have to pay 20 percent of all medical expenses. Your portion can add up quickly when your baby is in the hospital for an extended period of time, particularly when your baby undergoes a surgical procedure.

If your baby had surgery—and in some cases, even if they did not—there may be long-term medical expenses you must deal with. Aside from a necrotizing enterocolitis lawsuit paying your child’s medical expenses, a lawsuit can hold the formula manufacturers accountable for failing to warn parents and healthcare professionals about the potential for babies fed cow’s milk-based formulas to develop NEC. If you live in any of the following Alaska locales, contact an NEC baby formula lawsuit attorney today.

Anchorage, Alaska

Fairbanks, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Kenai, Alaska

Kodiak, Alaska

Wasilla, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska