We have been investigating several seemingly unrelated E. coli O157:H7 illnesses that may not be so unrelated. There are 63 confirmed illnesses possibly linked to Nestle’s Toll House Cookies. Before you say, "No way, cookies can’t be contaminated" or "E. coli is just a ground beef problem," realize that if these illnesses are, in fact, linked
Ground Beef, Hamburgers, and E. coli: John McDonald’s illness
The recent recall of nearly 96,000 pounds of ground beef by Valley Meats LLC got me thinking about hamburgers and E. coli O157:H7. Anytime I hear those words together (which, as an attorney at Marler Clark, is quite often), I think of John McDonald. John was a 5-year-old boy who we represented in a ground beef outbreak that occurred in 2007. Unfortunately, John’s illness was about as bad as an illness can get without causing a death. (it is unbelievable how many times I find myself saying that about our clients)
John was hospitalized at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital from October 4 through 12, then was transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where he remained until October 29. During his hospitalization, John’s kidneys failed requiring extensive dialysis to cleanse his blood, and he became badly anemic requiring many blood transfusions.
But these conditions, though in and of themselves potentially lethal, were just the beginning. What truly separates John’s illness from most of the hemolytic uremic syndrome illnesses that we see was the extent of injury to his gastrointestinal tract.
Jim McDonald, John’s father, was present at the moment it became apparent just how severe John’s illness was. It occurred in the early morning hours of Thursday, October 11, 2007. He recalls:
As usual, I got up to help as much as possible when the nurses came in and woke us up. When we opened his diaper, I got excited since it looked like he had had dark brown diarrhea, which told me that his digestive system was finally starting to kick in again. Realizing how liquidy the diaper was, we turned on an extra light to help us while changing him.
I will never forget what I saw. To my dismay, the diaper was not full of a bowel movement like I had desperately hoped. It was full of blood. An entire bowel movement of blood. Maybe an entire cup of blood. I got light-headed and almost passed out. I immediately sat down and grasped my head, apologizing to the nurses and telling them that I could no longer help them treat my son. This was the first of five grossly bloody stools that day.
Continue Reading Ground Beef, Hamburgers, and E. coli: John McDonald’s illness
Foodborne Illness is Just a Few Days of Diarrhea Right?
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?
E. coli O157:H7 Outbreaks Linked to Produce
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:
– in October 2003, thirteen residents of a California retirement home were sickened, and two people died, after eating E. coli-contaminated, pre-washed spinach;
– in September 2003, nearly
Prison Anyone?
Where is Dave Thomas when you need him? Jacob Zachariah, owner of a Wendy’s franchise restaurant in Ukiah, California, could use a dose of the late Mr. Thomas’s intelligence and simple charm. Zachariah’s Ukiah Wendy’s restaurant was recently shut down, not by the health department, but by the Wendy’s corporation for failure to adhere to
Heather Whybrew’s E. coli O157:H7 Illness
Andrew Martin of the New York Times wrote a nice article this morning on the safety of our food supply. We represent all three individuals profiled in his article: Heather Whybrew, Carl Ours, and Mary Tardiff. All suffered devastating illnesses in separate outbreaks and from different pathogens. All have unbelievable stories of suffering.
Heather’s story is unique, perhaps because she had lived through so much pain in her life even before her severe E. coli O157:H7 illness. In November 2004, after two years of headaches, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Treatment for her relatively rare condition—giant cell glioblastoma—included a full craniotomy to remove the tumor from the left frontal lobe of Heather’s brain. The procedure left her partially paralyzed. She remained hospitalized at Seattle Children’s Hospital and in intensive rehabilitation from November 16 until December 24, 2004.
During her rehabilitation, Heather had to relearn many basic motor functions, including how to walk. Relearn these skills she did, and despite her brain tumor, Heather eventually went on to college at Pacific Lutheran University.
Heather was infected by E. coli O157:H7 in the midst of finals her freshman year from contaminated lettuce served in a University Cafeteria. She would ultimately be hospitalized at St. Francis Hospital and Seattle Children’s Hospital for three weeks. During her hospitalization, Heather battled endless nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, a bad pneumonia illness, and severe blood clots in the superficial veins of her arms. The combined medical treatment would cost almost $114,000. She would have to make up her final exams during the next school year.Continue Reading Heather Whybrew’s E. coli O157:H7 Illness
Consumers warned not to eat some brands of peanut butter
The Oklahoma State Department of Health is joining other state and federal agencies in warning consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter, due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee, a bacterium that causes foodborne illness.
The affected jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut
Peanut Butter Linked to a Nationwide Outbreak of Salmonella Infection
The outbreak, which started last August and has since sickened close to 300 people, has been linked to a ConAgra plant in Sylvester, Ga. Any jar that includes the code "2111" was made at that plant and should be discarded or returned to the store where it was purchased. Giant stores and Wal-Mart confirm they