MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee mother is suing a baby formula company after she says her son died from using their products while in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

Nakia Harris says her son was born prematurely at birth and fed cow’s milk-based products, developed Necrotizing Enterocolitis, and died shortly afterward.

NEC is a deadly intestinal disease characterized by inflammation and injury of the gut wall barrier that may advance to necrosis and perforation of the gut, according to the lawsuit. Advanced cases may even lead to surgery or death.

The 39-page lawsuit states that Abbott Laboratories and Mead Johnson & Company, LLC, failed to provide any warnings on their labels, website, or marketing to parents or medical providers stating that their cow’s milk-based products increase the risk of NEC and death in preterm infants.

The lawsuit also states that the company did not provide “instructions or guidance on how to properly use its Cow’s Milk-Based Products to lower the risk to avoid NEC or death.”

On April 12, Harris says her son was born prematurely at Saint Francis Hospital. He was transferred to the NICU at Regional One Hospital where he was fed Enfamil formula.

On or before April 20, she was informed that her son had symptoms related to NEC, including feeding intolerance, vomiting, and abdominal distention.

The next day, the lawsuit states the baby developed severe metabolic acidosis with a presumed diagnosis of NEC.

That is when he was transferred to Methodist Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital where he died days later on April 29, 2023, due to NEC.

At the time of the baby’s death, the lawsuit says that the parents were unaware that the cow’s milk-based products caused their son to develop NEC.

According to the lawsuit, the company “marketed its cow’s milk-based products for use as nutritional supplements for preterm infants.”

The mother is now suing for compensation and asking for a jury trial.

NewsNation affiliate WREG has reached out to the company and is waiting to hear back.