Are Enfamil and Similac Toxic Baby Formulas?

This video features Michele S. Mirman, a Medical Malpractice attorney based in New York.

New York Injury Attorney Explains Potential Connection with NEC

Video Transcript:

Michele Mirman: 

Here we rely on these experts and these incubation units to give the best care to these poor babies who were born too early. How would the parent know?

Tom Mustin: 

Baby formula should be just about the safest thing to drink in the world, right? On today's episode of Ask the Lawyer, we're gonna talk to an attorney who says some brands may be toxic. Hello, I'm Tom Mustin with askthelawyers.com. My guest is New York City Attorney, Michele Mirman. And I want to remind you off the top, if you'd like to ask Michele any questions about one of your situations, just go to AskTheLawyers.com, click the button at the top that says "Ask a lawyer," and it'll walk you through the very simple process. And of course, you can also always call the phone number you see at the top of the screen there. So Michele, it's great to see you. Thank you for joining us once again.

Michele Mirman: 

Good afternoon.

Tom Mustin: 

Good afternoon to you. Tell me about the toxic baby formula that apparently is so harmful to premature babies.

Michele Mirman: 

Yes. Well, there was research done many, many years ago that showed that cow milk-based formula could be very destructive to the intestines of premature babies. It causes an infection, inflammation that actually eats away at the lining of the intestine and can form holes in it, and somehow, some way, doctors, hospitals overlook this research. Somehow the two major companies, Abbott and Mead Johnson who make these formulas and everybody's gonna know the name of the formulas, it's Enfamil and Similac, their cow-based formulas, cow milk-based formulas are given to the premature babies and many, many, many of them suffer from this terrible disease, it's called NEC, which is... The initials for Necrotizing enterocolitis. And necrotizing means death.

So what happens is the lining of the intestines in these poor babies die, and about 25% of these children actually do die from this condition, many more of them because of this terrible insult to their system, their insides are peeling away, don't grow back. They need surgeries, they don't thrive, they have developed mental delays afterwards.

Tom Mustin: 

And these are not some off branch you're talking about. You mentioned Enfamil, these are big time companies, right?

Michele Mirman: 

Correct. Big time companies, companies that have known about these dangers for years and years.

Tom Mustin: 

So are these products still being used for the preemies though?

Michele Mirman: 

They're still out there, nobody's taken them off the market, the issue again is that the warnings are insufficient, and doctors and hospitals are still using the formulas on premature infants, and that is where they should not be used on premature infants children and the babies under the age of, say, 37 weeks.

Tom Mustin: 

Right. Well, so I guess the question is, is there a litigation under way now? And if so, who is it against? Is it the doctors, the manufacturers or the hospitals?

Michele Mirman: 

Well, litigation is underway, and the answer is yes, it's against both, it's against the manufacturers for failing to warn properly and for doctors and hospitals for not heeding any warnings that they should have been aware of.

Tom Mustin: 

Wow. Well, is it possible that the parents whose babies develop NEC would have no idea it could have been caused by that problem?

Michele Mirman: 

Absolutely, there's no way that a parent who gives birth to a premature infant and the child is immediately taken away from the parent and put in a NICU to be taken care of. So the only people who are taking care of this child are the hospital staff in the hospitals, the parent has nothing to say about that treatment and who is even going to start going through the medical literature to figure out what's good for a premature baby and not good for a premature baby? Here we rely on these experts and these incubation units to give the best care to these poor babies who were born too early. How would the parent know?

Tom Mustin: 

Right. It's pretty scary, Michele. What's your our advice to parents whose babies have suffered from NEC?

Michele Mirman: 

Absolutely, they should consult a lawyer right away. If the child is under 37 weeks, if they've been diagnosed with NEC, if they've had surgery, if you know that they've been given that cow milk-based formula, Enfamil or Similac, you should go consult a lawyer immediately, your baby may have life-long problems because of the NEC.

Tom Mustin: 

Well, grand information, Michele. Thank you, again for joining us. We really appreciate it, and we look forward to seeing again soon. That'll do it for this episode of Ask The Lawyer. My guest has been New York City Attorney Michele Mirman. If you wanna ask questions about your situation, just go to AskTheLawyers.com, click the button at the top that says "Ask a lawyer", and it will walk you through the very simple process. Thank you for watching. I'm Tom Mustin for AskTheLawyers.com.

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