Marler Clark’s food litigation attorneys have the most extensive experience representing victims of food poisoning outbreaks of any law firm in the United States. Our food poisoning lawyers have successfully represented thousands of victims of the largest food poisoning outbreaks across the country since 1993.

In 1998 Marler Clark was formed by the unlikely pairing of Bill Marler who represented the victims in the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak and Bruce Clark who defended the company.  Since then Marler Clark has been involved in nearly every food poisoning lawsuit in the nation and around the world.  In addition to representing victims, Bill Marler has been a tireless food safety advocate and speaker on avoiding food contamination events.  See, Marler Clark informational video.

In 1998 as well, as Marler Clark developed expertise in foodborne pathogens, other than E. coli, we began to post information that we learned during litigation and working with some of the best experts in the world.  We share the “bug” websites below to share and to be linked to.

Botulism is a life-threatening paralytic illness caused by neurotoxins produced by an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium—Clostridium botulinum. Botulism is a rare disease and only affects a few hundred persons each year in the United States. The vast majority of clinicians have never seen a patient with botulism.

Campylobacter is a genus of bacteria that is among the most common causes of bacterial diarrheal illness in humans worldwide. The name means “curved rod,” derived from the Greek campylos (curved) and baktron (rod). While there are dozens of species, three represent the main sources of human infection: Campylobacter jejuniCampylobacter coli, and Campylobacter lariC. jejuni is the most commonly implicated species.

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a unicellular, microscopic parasite that can cause food- or water-related gastrointestinal illness. The oocyst form of the parasite is chlorine-resistant and must sporulate in the environment before it is a viable infectious agent. Cyclospora cannot be transmitted directly from one person to another through infected fecal matter; the parasite must complete part of its lifecycle outside of a host.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a highly studied, common species of bacteria that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, so named because many of its members live in the intestines of humans and warm-blooded animals.  Certain serotypes, like E. coli O157:H7 can cause human disease.

Viral hepatitis is a major global public health problem affecting hundreds of millions of people and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Five biologically unrelated hepatotropic viruses cause most of the global burden of viral hepatitis: hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis D (delta) virus (HDV), and hepatitis E virus (HEV). HBV, HCV, HDV, and, occasionally, HEV can produce chronic infections, whereas HAV does not.

Listeria is a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that is ubiquitous and can grow under either anaerobic (without oxygen) or aerobic (with oxygen) conditions. Listeriosis is one of the most important bacterial infections worldwide that arises mainly from the consumption of contaminated food. The disease is caused by Listeria monocytogenes, which is considered an opportunistic pathogen that affects mainly those with underlying immune conditions, such as pregnant women, neonates, and elders, resulting in septicemia, meningitis, and/or meningoencephalitis.

When someone talks about having “the stomach flu,” they are probably describing acute-onset gastroenteritis caused by one of the noroviruses, which are members of the “calcivirus” family (Caliciviridae). Noroviruses are entirely unrelated to influenza viruses.

The term Salmonella refers to a specific group of gram-negative bacteria with the potential to cause gastrointestinal distress and other illness (i.e. salmonellosis) in humans.

Recognized worldwide as the most common cause of dysentery, the Shiga bacillus—or Shigella—is a facultatively anaerobic, non-motile gram-negative rod belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, so named because many of its members live in the intestines of humans and warm-blooded animals.

We have also developed a deep understanding of the various severe complication of foodborne illnesses.  We share the websites to share and to be linked to.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a disorder in which the body’s immune response, typically to an infection, causes nerve damage. The syndrome is rare, affecting about one to two people in 100,000 each year. It can present as a very mild case of brief weakness to devastating paralysis, affecting the muscles that allow a person to breathe on their own. Fortunately, most people eventually recover from even the most severe cases of Guillain-Barré, although some are left with some level of weakness.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome was first described in 1955, but it was not known to be secondary to Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections until 1983. HUS is now recognized as a cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children. Adolescents and adults are also susceptible, as are the elderly, who often have severe disease and are at significant risk of death from the disease.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. The hallmark symptoms of IBS are abdominal pain and altered bowel habits.

Formerly known as Reiter syndrome, reactive arthritis (ReA) is joint inflammation that occurs after a bacterial infection originating outside the joints (i.e., “extra-articular”).

For more information contact Bill Marler at 1-206-346-1890 or bmarler@marlerclark.com