Charles Meyer, 61 years old, is a regular customer of Schnuck’s grocery locations in the St. Louis area.  In the week prior to the onset of symptoms related to his E. coli O157:H7 infection, Mr. Meyer ate from the salad bar at the 1225 South Florissant Road, Cool Valley, Missouri Schnuck’s location on several occasions.  Each time, he selected romaine lettuce, in addition to a variety of other ingredients from the salad bar, and ate them.  Onset of Mr. Meyer’s E. coli O157:H7 illness occurred on or about October 24, 2011, a Monday.  Symptoms began with uncomfortable abdominal cramps and diarrhea.  These and other developing gastrointestinal symptoms persisted through the next evening, by which time Mr. Meyer’s cramps had become unbearably painful, and his bouts of diarrhea grossly bloody.  Continuing to be very ill, on Wednesday, October 26 Mr. Meyer saw his primary care physician, who ruled out acute appendicitis and diagnosed Mr. Meyer with a likely case of food poisoning.  By this time, Mr. Meyer’s abdomen had become notably distended.  His physician called St. John’s Mercy Hospital to inform the hospital that Mr. Meyer would be coming to the emergency department.   Mr. Meyer went straight to the emergency department at St. John’s Mercy, where the attending physician began intravenous fluids due to severe gastrointestinal losses, and antibiotic treatment.  Mr. Meyer gave a stool sample during his brief stay in the ER that would ultimately test positive for the strain of E. coli O157:H7 involved in the outbreaks described at paragraph 8 through 13, above.  Mr. Meyer was later admitted to St. John’s Mercy Hospital.  During his hospitalization, Mr. Meyer underwent a colonoscopy, among other treatment and diagnostic measures, and ultimately had to be transferred to the cardiology unit for monitoring of his heart function.  He was discharged on Sunday, October 30, 2011.  Since being discharged, Mr. Meyer has struggled to return to his prior state of health.  An avid runner prior to his illness, Mr. Meyer has not regained either the strength or endurance that he formerly enjoyed.  Nor has his gastrointestinal function returned to normal.  He continues to regain the weight that he lost during his severe illness. Complaint PDF.