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.

On Oct. 29, 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 and spent his …