Federal multidistrict litigation tracker
MDL 3026 Update — NEC Baby Formula Lawsuit
In re: Abbott Laboratories, et al., Preterm Infant Nutrition Products Liability Litigation. Counts are monthly JPML snapshots and can change between reports.
Lawsuit status — September 2026
NEC Baby Formula Lawsuit
Verified September 22, 2026
- MDL
- MDL-3026
- Court
- N.D. Ill.
- Judge
- Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer
- Current phase
- Active MDL; bellwether rulings, appeals, and individual pretrial proceedings
- Settlement status
- not announced
- Latest development
- JPML reports 844 pending actions in MDL-3026 on October 1, 2026, down 3 from 847 on September 1; 1,064 total historical actions are reported separately.
- Next major event
- No future public court date is currently verified in this record.
What changed this month?
- ●JPML reports 844 pending actions in MDL-3026 on October 1, 2026, down 3 from 847 on September 1; 1,064 total historical actions are reported separately. Source
- ●JPML reports 847 pending actions and 1,057 historical actions, compared with 825 pending and 1,035 historical actions on August 3. Source
- ●The Seventh Circuit reversed a federal-jurisdiction ruling in five Mead cases and remanded without deciding their product-liability merits. Source
- ●The Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Abbott in the Mar bellwether on case-specific warning causation while declining to decide a broader product-causation issue. Source
MDL details
- Created
- April 8, 2022
- Pending
- 844
- Total actions filed
- 1,064
- Monthly change
- -3
Defendants named in the tracked record
Abbott Laboratories; Mead Johnson & Company, LLC; Mead Johnson Nutrition Company. Defendants dispute the allegations.
Historical case counts
| Report | Pending | Total filed |
|---|---|---|
| October 1, 2026 | 844 | 1,064 |
| September 1, 2026 | 847 | 1,057 |
| August 3, 2026 | 825 | 1,035 |
What the litigation alleges
The tracked claims concern preterm infant nutrition product-liability claim, including necrotizing enterocolitis in a premature infant. These are allegations; defendants dispute liability and causation.
Stage and bellwether status
JPML lists MDL-3026 as active before Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer. In July 2026 the Seventh Circuit affirmed an Abbott bellwether summary judgment on case-specific warning causation and separately reversed a jurisdiction ruling in five Mead cases without deciding their product-liability merits.
Settlement status
The official JPML and federal appellate records reviewed September 22, 2026 do not announce a global MDL settlement program, compensation matrix, or universal payment deadline. A verdict, dismissal, remand, or settlement in one case does not set another case's value.
Individual claims: No universal NEC formula payout amount is verified here.
Official sources
- JPML — October 1, 2026 pending and historical actions
- JPML — September 1, 2026 pending and historical actions
- JPML — August 3, 2026 comparison report
- JPML — MDL-3026 transfer order
- Seventh Circuit — Mar v. Abbott Laboratories
- Seventh Circuit — Abdullah and related Mead cases
- FDA — infant formula resources