A court ruling against an American rival in the United States sent shares in Reckitt Benckiser to their lowest level in more than a decade.
A jury in St Louis, Missouri, found that Similac, Abbott Laboratories’ specialised baby milk formula for premature babies and a product similar to Reckitt’s Enfamil, had caused a girl to develop necrotising enterocolitis, a potentially deadly bowel disease.
The girl, now three years old, is suffering with damage to her brain and digestive system, which lawyers argued the feeding of Similac had contributed to. Abbott, which strongly disagreed with the verdict and will appeal against it, was ordered to pay damages of $495 million late on Friday.
Shares in Reckitt, which has its own necrotising enterocolitis trial that is due