Abbott (NYSE: ABT) has reached agreements with three law firms to resolve approximately 2,000 claims related to its specialty formulas for preterm infants, including the Gill case, for an aggregate amount of approximately $670 million, according to a company press release.

In July 2024, a St. Louis jury awarded the plaintiff in the Gill case $495 million in damages. Abbott appealed the verdict to the Missouri Court of Appeals in December 2024, but the appeal was denied. Rather than continuing to appeal or paying approximately $600 million — representing the Gill judgment plus accrued interest — Abbott entered into the broader settlement agreements.

Abbott stated the agreements are a compromise of disputed claims and do not constitute an admission of liability. The company said it continues to stand by the safety of its preterm infant formula products.

The settlements follow a series of court rulings favorable to preterm formula manufacturers. In July 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a pretrial judgment for Abbott in the first federal Multidistrict Litigation bellwether case. In June 2026, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a $60 million verdict against Mead Johnson, citing improper application of the learned intermediary doctrine. In March 2026, a Florida state court also dismissed preterm infant formula claims applying the same doctrine.

Following these settlements, roughly 1,700 lawsuits remain pending in federal and state courts, involving claims on behalf of approximately 12,700 individual infants. Abbott noted that the remaining population includes claims naming both Abbott and Mead Johnson without identifying which manufacturer's formula was used, individuals diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis before receiving any formula, individuals never diagnosed with the condition, and individuals appearing in multiple lawsuits across jurisdictions.

The FDA, CDC, NIH, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have each stated there is no conclusive evidence that preterm infant formula causes necrotizing enterocolitis.