ByHeart formula
NEW YORK – A maker of infant formula faces a dozen class action lawsuits filed days after California officials found the bacteria that causes botulism in one of its cans.
Plaintiffs sued ByHeart in various federal courts this month for false marketing, not injuries to infants. ByHeart never disclosed that its products risk containing Clostridium botulinum, they say.
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration reported that 31 infants in multiple states had suspected of confirmed infant botulism possibly from exposure to ByHeart Whole Nutrition infant formula.
All 31 were hospitalized but none have died. The FDA and state regulators are working on “an effective recall.” Cases have occurred in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maine.
A lawsuit says consumers would not have purchased the formula if they knew of these risks. ByHeart’s site instructs customers to contact their retailer directly for a refund, and the suit claims is unfair that consumers must retain the formula to be eligible.
“Defendant’s recall is designed to minimize Defendant’s own liability, to reach very few people, and to benefit very few of the consumers who purchased the products,” one lawsuit says.
“The class action remedy is superior to Defendant’s failed recall in every conceivable fashion.”
The first case was filed Nov. 11 in New York federal court by Reese LLP.
