NEC Baby Formula Claims in Los Angeles

What do the NEC baby formula lawsuits allege?

Necrotizing enterocolitis, known as NEC, is a severe intestinal disease that affects mainly premature infants. The allegation is that published research has long associated cow’s milk based preterm formulas and fortifiers with a materially higher risk of NEC in premature infants than human milk, and that neonatal units and parents were not adequately warned of that difference.

A claim generally alleges a failure to warn: that the risk was known or knowable, that it was not adequately communicated, and that feeding this product contributed to this baby’s disease. Neither half is assumed. There is consolidated federal litigation and there are cases in state courts. Verdicts have been mixed, which is worth saying honestly. This is also not a class action: each claim stays separate, built on that child’s own feeding records, diagnosis and outcome.

What records do NEC formula claims need?

The record that matters is the one from the neonatal intensive care unit, not what you have at home. Those files are detailed and hospitals keep them for a long time, which is one reason these claims remain viable years later. They include:

• The gestational age and birth weight.
• The feeding orders showing what the baby was given, which brand and on which days.
• The day the diagnosis was made, with the imaging.
• The surgical reports and pathology.
• The discharge summary and the treatment file.

The family does not hold most of this. It is at the hospital and is requested with a signed authorization. We request the records for you, in Spanish if you prefer and with no cost up front.

How long do you have to file an NEC claim in California?

• Child’s own claim. California Code of Civil Procedure section 352 pauses the limitation period while a claimant is under eighteen. A child injured as a newborn therefore generally has until two years after their eighteenth birthday to bring a personal injury claim in their own name.
• Parent’s wrongful death claim. If the baby died, the claim is brought by the family members listed in Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 and runs from the date of death under the ordinary two year rule of section 335.1.

The same tolling rule applies to other claims brought on behalf of children, including video game addiction and social media harm claims. Do not assume a deadline has passed because years have gone by. Have the dates reviewed.

What compensation may be sought in an NEC claim?

• Medical expenses, past and future, including surgeries, an ostomy, hospital care and ongoing treatment.
• Lifetime care costs where a child survived with lasting consequences such as short bowel syndrome.
• Loss of future earning capacity where the injury limits what the child can do as an adult.
• Pain, suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life for the child.
• Wrongful death damages for the family under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 if the baby did not survive.
• Punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294, only where malice, oppression or fraud can be shown.

No outcome or value can be promised. It turns on the medical record, the strength of the link between the feeding and the disease and the course of the litigation.

How much does an NEC baby formula lawyer cost?

No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes these cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires (Business and Professions Code section 6147), and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement rather than left to the end. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Where we handle NEC formula claims

Mass tort claims are taken on for clients across Los Angeles County: Santa Clarita, Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Torrance, Inglewood, Pomona, Downey, Norwalk, El Monte, Santa Monica and West Covina. These cases are consolidated in federal or state court rather than heard locally, so where you live does not limit the claim. Broukhim Legal PC works from 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Read about our other mass tort cases, see all locations we serve, or tell us what happened for a free case review.

Meet your Los Angeles NEC baby formula lawyer

Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036

Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.

Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions