By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) -Abbott and Reckitt unit Mead Johnson are not responsible for a young boy's debilitating intestinal disease, a jury found on Thursday in a lawsuit accusing them of failing to warn of their premature baby formulas' risks.

The Whitfield family legal case was just one of many still pending relating to the necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) disease.

Abbott Labs (ABT) and competitor Reckitt Benckiser's (OTCPK:RBGPF) Mead Johnson business are facing more than 1,000 lawsuits that allege that the companies failed to warn parents about the NEC risks with cow’s-milk-based products. "We are pleased with ...

A St. Louis jury handed Abbott Laboratories a win Thursday, deciding that Abbott, another company and a hospital were not liable after a boy consumed the companies’ cow’s milk-based products for premature infants and became severely ill.

After the verdict and the "overwhelming societal support of infant formula, we think its prudent to lower the liability exposure and raise the odds of an Abbott victory in the trials, or at least improve the company's negotiating power in a settlement," J.P.Morgan analyst Robbie Marcus said in a note.

Shares in Reckitt Benckiser topped the Stoxx Europe 600 Index after a U.S. court cleared the company of liability in a case concerning its baby formulas.

Abbott Laboratories and a unit of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc were cleared by a jury over claims they hid risks their premature-infant formulas can cause a bowel disease that severely sickened a baby boy.