Food Safety News reports: Denver parents are seeking legal recourse after their teenage son was hospitalized with life-threatening complications from an E. coli O157:H7 infection linked to an Aurora, CO, restaurant.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday with the Arapaho County District Court in Centennial, CO, states that Marc and Candace Thompson and their son Noah, 14, ate at the Pho 75 restaurant at 2050 S. Havana St., in Aurora on May 24, 2016.

Pho-75-restaurant-colorado“Just days after eating at the Defendant’s restaurant, both Marc and Candace experienced gastrointestinal distress that included diarrhea. Fortunately, their symptoms quickly resolved, albeit after enduring substantial pain and suffering,” the lawsuit states.

However, on May 29, Noah developed nausea, vomiting, severe stomach cramping, diarrhea that turned bloody, fatigue and headache. He also began to run a fever of 102 degrees F. Subsequent lab tests were positive for E. coli O157:H7, according to the complaint.

His parents took him to the emergency room at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, where he was admitted to the ICU. The lawsuit states that Noah is still in the hospital and receiving regular dialysis treatments for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious and potentially life-threatening complication of E. coli infection.

Four illnesses have so far been linked to the Pho 75 restaurant in Aurora, which closed June 10 following an investigation. Inspection reports from the Tri-County Health Department in Greenwood Village, CO, reveal a history of food safety violations over a long period.

The health department is asking anyone who ate at Pho 75 in Aurora from May 24 to June 10 to take an online survey posted June 13, even if they did not get sick.

“This will help us identify the food that caused the illnesses,” the site noted.

The Thompson family is asking for a jury trial, along with damages and court costs. They are being represented by John R. Riley of Montgomery Little & Soran, Greenwood Village, and Bill Marler of Seattle’s Marler Clark food safety law firm.

Complaint