It never ceases to amaze me, particularly after the last few years and all the high-profile outbreaks that have occurred, that people still pass off "foodpoisoning" as a couple of days of diarrhea–i.e. that the victim is no worse for the wear. There is so much that is wrong with this statement that it would be pointless to even begin assailing it with mere facts. Instead, as I’ve done recently with Jacob Aggas, Kelly Cobb, and Regan Erickson, I’ll tell the story of somebody who, after his Salmonella infection, would disagree wholeheartedly with the notion that "foodpoisoning" is just a couple days of diarrhea. In fact, don’t stop reading this just because you think you’ve seen, or heard about, every varient of a Salmonella illness. I assure you that you’ve never seen one quite like this before.
At the request of our former client, I have changed the names and locations in this narrative:
Our client, Ron, was infected with Salmonella during a sporting banquet in Indiana. His illness began on July 27, 2004. At first, he suffered from predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms that were, in light of what was to come, relatively mild.
By August 1, Ron was in the emergency room at a nearby hospital The attending physician there noted repetitive diarrhea and, though the vomiting had subsided, that Ron continued to feel “somewhat nauseous and gaggy.” Ron was re-hydrated with a liter of normal saline, and twenty-five milligrams of Phenergan, an anti-nausea medication, were introduced intravenously. He was discharged several hours later with a prescription for Ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic.
Ron’s course over the next two months is one that defies clever adjectival description: He felt generally ill pretty much all of the time. He did manage to return to work after a couple of day’s absence, but he struggled to be as productive as usual, was frequently irritable, and seemed constantly besieged by abdominal discomfort. It was during this time that Ron learned that his stool sample had cultured positive for Salmonella, group D.
The same state of ill health persisted throughout August and September. “Then,” as Ron recalls, “came the first weekend in October,” and “any thoughts I had that the first bout in July was the sickest I’d ever been faded quickly.”
Continue Reading Foodborne Illness is Just a Few Days of Diarrhea Right?
cat food was recalled due to incorrect levels of zinc and
Tiffany and Russ Erickson were just like most Americans until September 2006. Their four-year-old son Regan (pronounced "Ree-gun") was one of many young kids whose future was unalterably and forever changed by spinach. What appears below is Regan’s story. It is a little long, but that must be forgiven. Regan’s illness very nearly cost him his life..jpg)
Kelly Cobb is yet another example. Kelly was also infected by California produce, though her illness arose from a different outbreak than Ruby Trautz. Kelly was more fortunate than Ruby, but only because her younger body was more capable of fighting the severe infection than Ruby’s was. 
E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with lettuce or spinach, specifically “pre-washed” and “ready-to-eat” varieties, are by no means a new phenomenon. By way of illustration:.jpg)
I have never become accustomed to the profound nature of many of the injuries and illnesses we see at Marler Clark. I often find myself saying to the mother, husband, or grandson of somebody who has suffered life-altering injuries that "I wish we never had to meet" . . . my only method of verbalizing the
1. The company detected the bacteria in roasted pistachios in October but did not change its processing procedures until March
Please don’t let the title mislead you. I am certainly not implying there is a lighter side to any individual’s foodborne illness–as anyone who has ever experienced an