An Illinois federal judge threw out the first federal bellwether trial over cow’s milk-based infant formula but greenlighted the plaintiffs’ general causation experts in hundreds of lawsuits.
In one summary judgment ruling entered on Friday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, of the Northern District of Illinois, who is overseeing more than 700 lawsuits tying cow’s milk-based infant formula to a gastrointestinal illness called necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, tossed a bellwether case scheduled for a May 12 trial.