PBM Products, a Gordonsville, Va.-based supplier of store brand infant formulas to major retailers, said it received a favorable jury verdict and a $13.5 million damages award in its false advertising lawsuit against Mead Johnson & Co, the operating subsidiary of Glenview, Ill.-based Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., makers of the national brand Enfamil LIPIL infant formula.

PBM said its lawsuit claimed Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s competing store brand of infant formulas, suggesting the products do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s more costly products. According to PBM, the $13.5 million sum the jury awarded in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising case.

“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store brand formula products and their products, when in fact, the only major difference is price,” said Paul B. Manning, PBM’s CEO. “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”

PBM said this is the third time it has sued Mead Johnson for false advertising claims.