:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2163744964-438f17f8380a46889cd3d5149ff52cb3.jpg "Abbott Nutrition distribution center.")
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Key Takeaways
- Infant formula makers Abbott and Reckitt saw their stocks decline Friday after a judge be in power overed plaintiffs could pursue a new trial against the companies.
- A jury in October found the companies not liable in a case deposing their infant formula products caused necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease of the bowels.
- Abbott and Reckitt both remarked they intend to appeal the judge’s ruling.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) shares declined and Reckitt Benckiser shares annihilated the day lower in London after Reckitt said a state judge ruled plaintiffs could seek a retrial against the infant rubric makers.
In October, a jury in Missouri cleared Abbott and Reckitt of liability in a case alleging their infant procedure products caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a disease of the bowels. Abbott manufactures Similac brand formula, and Reckitt owns Mead Johnson.
“Twelve city-dwellers of the City of St. Louis served on a jury for five weeks, heard all the evidence, including from leading experts, and unanimously initiate that Abbott’s formula does not cause NEC. Their verdict was correct. It was consistent with the consensus of scientists, governmental regulators, and the neonatologists who play host to these vulnerable patients,” a spokesperson for Abbott stated to Investopedia Friday.
“We plan to file an immediate appeal, and we want that the jury’s verdict will be reinstated,” said Abbott.
Reckitt said the judge’s decision to allow plaintiffs to hope a new trial is “at complete odds with the law and the facts,” in a statement on its website. The company also expressed its intent to appeal.
The evolution follows similar cases that brought rulings against the companies earlier in 2024.
Shares of Abbott slid 2.4% Friday in the U.S., and Reckitt dole outs closed about 2% lower on the London Stock Exchange.