Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Food Poison Journal

The unfortunate trend for E. coli and beef in late 2009 and 2010 continues.  This evening, West MissourI Beef, LLC, a Rockville, Missouri beef company, recalled 14,000 pounds of boneless beef products due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination.  Today's recall brings the tally for recalled beef due to E. coli contamination to 1,636,000 pounds of beef products in the last three months. 

On January 18, 2010, the USDA's food inspection branch (FSIS) announced the recall of 846,000 pounds of ground beef products produced by a California company called Huntington Meat Packing, Inc., due to potential contamination by E. coli O157:H7.

On January 11, 2010, Adams Farm Slaughterhouse, LLC., an Athol, Mass., stablishment, recalled approximately 2,574 pounds of beef products due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recall occurred in the wake of an epidemiological investigation into the E. coli illness of at least one Massachusetts resident.

In November 2009, ground beef from a New York ground beef company called Fairbank Farms was recalled due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination. That outbreak caused resulted in 26 E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, nineteen hospitalizations, and five who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

And on Christmas Eve 2009, National Steak and Poultry recalled at least 124 tons of mechanically tenderized beef products. The National Steak and Poultry outbreak caused at least 21 E. coli O157:H7 illness in 16 states, including nine hospitalizations and one case of HUS.

Together, the recalls and outbreaks linked to beef from Adams Farm, National Steak and Poultry, Fairbank Farms, and now West Missouri Beef have caused at least 48 illnesses nationally. At least 1,636,000 pounds of beef have been recalled in total in the five recalls. .
 

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Tomorrow morning, we will file a second lawsuit in the Salmonella outbreak linked to recalled salami (Daniele, Inc.) and pepper (Wholesome Spice).  The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of Lee Hanks, a resident of Lake Ozark, Missouri. 

Lee purchased the contaminated salami on January 17, 2010, at a WalMart store in Osage Beach, Missouri.  The Salmonella contaminated salami was one part of a variety package of Daniele Inc salami products.  At least one of the salami varieties contained pepper manufactured by defendant Wholesome Spice.

Lee Hanks consumed pieces of the contaminated salami the next day and fell ill late the same evening.  Symptoms began with cramps and nausea. Lee woke up in the early morning hours of January 19, 2010, feeling extremely nauseated, with alternating chills and fevers, and suffering from explosive bouts of diarrhea.

Lee's illness worsened over the next 48 hours, causing him to call his primary care physician the afternoon of Thursday, January 21, 2010. His physician prescribed anti-diarrheal and anti-nausea medications. Lee immediately began to take the medications that his doctor had prescribed, but he only became more ill, weak, and disoriented. Finally, on Saturday, January 23, 2010, Lee had become so ill that his wife demanded that he go to the emergency department at Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, Missouri.

At the emergency department, Lee received several liters of fluid to correct his severe dehydration. He also received a potassium supplement, as his severe gastrointestinal losses had caused him to develop hypokalemia. Lee's attending physician ultimately diagnosed him with a severe bacterial infection and prescribed the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. And before being discharged, Lee submitted a stool sample for testing. 

Lee Hanks continued to be extremely ill and weak over the course of the next several days. The frequent bouts of diarrhea finally began to slow on or about Monday afternoon, but Lee continues to suffer from gastrointestinal discomfort as a result of his Salmonella infection.

In discussions with health officials from Miller County and the State of Missouri, Lee earned that the stool sample he submitted while at the emergency department tested positive for Salmonella Montevideo, which is the strain involved in the national outbreak linked to Defendants’ salami and pepper products.

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Tomorrow morning, we will file a lawsuit on behalf of Kelly and Matthew Cobb.  Kelly was one of at least ten people infected with E. coli O157:H7 in May 2008 after eating contaminated lettuce.  Kelly ultimately developed hemolytic uremic syndrome as a result of her infection, and she had to be hospitalized for two weeks.  Of course, a big part of Kelly's story is that her husband, Matt, was fighting with the marines in Iraq at the time she became ill, leaving Kelly home alone to care for their two children. 

The lawsuit tomorrow will be filed against multiple entities, all of whom played a role in manufacturing the lettuce that made Kelly sick.  The companies, all from California, are as follows:  Church Brothers, LLC; Premium Fresh Farms, LLC; True Leaf Farms, LLC; Andrew Smith Company; and Paul's Pak, Inc.

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Second lawsuit filed by victims of national Salmonella outbreak traced to peanut butter

A New York family filed suit against ConAgra this afternoon in United States District Court for the Western District of New York. The lawsuit was filed by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of a Missouri family early Friday, and Rochester, New York, attorney Paul Nunes. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Nicolas Avalone and Tracy Hubright of Ontario, New York.

Peanut butter manufacturer sued by Missouri family

A Salmonella lawsuit was filed Friday in Missouri against ConAgra, the Omaha, Nebraska-based food company whose Georgia peanut butter plant was traced as the source of a Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Buchannan County, Missouri, couple and their two children. The family is represented by Seattle-based Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks, and Springfield, Missouri-based Aleshire, Robb & Sivils.

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