Across the United States, a baby formula shortage has devastated families who need it to keep their children alive. The crisis has especially impacted disadvantaged parents who can’t afford to go online and find expensive cans from individual sellers. Children with allergies, metabolic issues, and other health problems also need formula at higher rates. And in their desperation, some people blame lawyers and a pending baby formula lawsuit for these shortages.
Here’s my response, as a Memphis baby formula lawsuit attorney myself.
1. Baby Formula Lawsuits Aren’t the Main Cause for These Shortages
Firstly, the baby formula companies aren’t even pretending our pending lawsuits caused these shortages. They rightly blame record inflation, supply chain issues, and product recalls for this crisis.
In February, the FDA recalled three different formulas over potential bacterial infections, including Salmonella. Two infants died in the buildup to that recall. Since then, manufacturing has struggled to keep up.
2. Baby Formula Lawsuits Affect Only a Specific Group of Infants
Our cases relate only to premature infants fed Enfamil and Similac who developed something called NEC. NEC is a severe gastrointestinal disorder that can lead to dangerous surgeries, permanent physical damage, and even death.
Our lawsuit alleges baby formula companies knew their product leads to NEC in premature babies. Not only did they do nothing about it—to this day, they still don’t even label their product to warn parents.
3. All Infants Deserve Access to Safe and Healthy Food
We are not fighting to take formula off the shelves. On the contrary: we want every single child to have access to safe, affordable food.
That means ample access to baby formula—not the dangerous and scary shortage we have right now.
It also means formula and other breastmilk alternatives specially designed for premature infants. At the very least, it means not marketing regular formula to children the companies know could die from eating it!
My job is to my clients, and to put it bluntly, these companies have taken everything from them. They’ll never recover from the children they’ve lost, the years of surgeries and heartbreak, the tragedies they’ve had to endure.
Yet as it stands now, the companies refuse even to acknowledge these products’ risk for premature babies.
And that, just like the empty space on our grocery shelves, is simply not enough.
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Darrell Castle is a Memphis-based personal injury lawyer. If you’ve been affected by baby formula and NEC, contact him today.