Abbott Labs Defeats Baby Formula Economic Loss Class Action Suit

Purchasers of Abbott Laboratories’ allegedly contaminated powdered infant formula who couldn’t allege personal injury didn’t adequately allege standing to sue arising from their theory of possible economic harm, a federal appeals court said.

The plaintiffs alleged that they could’ve been harmed because of the unsanitary conditions at a Sturgis, Michigan facility, but Judge Michael B. Brennan, of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, said this was too hypothetical a harm to warrant standing to pursue the proposed class action, and the lower court had properly dismissed the case.

The class action was filed against Abbott ...