A Chicago jury has said Abbott Laboratories must pay $53m in compensatory damages to a group of families that had accused the company of failing to warn that its formula for premature infants can cause a potentially deadly bowel disease. The verdict ?is the latest among hundreds of lawsuits alleging that Abbott’s ?cow’s milk-based formula products for preterm infants can cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Abbott has denied that the products, which it says ?are essential for premature babies when their mothers cannot produce enough breast milk, cause NEC. The disease is often fatal in babies born prematurely. Four families’ lawsuits were consolidated for trial.