Federal Judge Certifies Questions to Conn. Supreme Court in Infant Formula Case

HARTFORD, Conn. — A federal judge has certified the question of whether the learned intermediary doctrine applies to warning claims in a case alleging that Abbott Laboratories Inc.’s cow’s-milk-based infant formulas caused a premature baby’s death.

In an Aug. 19 order, Judge Stefan R. Underhill of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut also certified the question of whether Connecticut law recognizes a cause of action for loss of filial consortium, noting that the only loss of consortium claim established by statute in Connecticut is a loss of spousal consortium.

Anika Hunte’s son Aries was born prematurely …