Connecticut hospital hit with $32M judgment after cow-based formula linked to infant’s death

The parents of a premature newborn who died at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut have been awarded nearly $32 million, after a judge ruled that the hospital was the “proximate cause” of the baby’s death.

The child was in a neonatal care unit at Yale New Haven, where he died less than three months after birth. His parents, Anika Hunte and Dane Peterson, filed a lawsuit two years later alleging that the hospital was responsible. According to the complaint, clinicians fed their son a type of formula made from cow’s milk, resulting in the development of necrotizing enterocolitis—a life-threatening intestinal disease that tends to afflict premature babies. 

According to court documents, the hospital failed to take into account the risks of using bovine milk, as opposed to an alternative derived from human milk that may have been safer for such a small, underdeveloped infant. 

Further, the plaintiffs said they were never informed about the formula switch, which was fed to their baby without permission—something Judge Karen Goodrow seemed to confirm in her 29-page ruling. 

“The defendants had a duty to discuss with the parents the content of the bovine-based products, and obtain informed consent, but failed to meet that duty,” she wrote. 

Hunte allegedly told staff she wanted her baby to only be fed human-based products, but a clinician mixed in the potentially dangerous milk of their own volition. After the newborn became ill, it was determined he developed necrotizing enterocolitis, something that can develop as a result of consuming cow's milk.

As reported by the New Haven Register, attorneys representing the parents were able to successfully argue that human-derived formula lowers the risk of an infant developing the dangerous intestinal illness, citing studies where it carries a lower risk than cow products. 

Yale New Haven was also accused of failing to stock the necessary human formula, something Goodrow noted in her judgment, where the facility was ultimately found to be liable for the baby’s death. 

Hunte and Peterson were awarded nearly $2 million to cover expenses, including a funeral. The additional $30 million is for pain and suffering.

HealthExec reached out to Yale New Haven for additional comment. 

For more on this story, read the full coverage from the New Haven Register at the link below.