E Coli Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark Law Firm : E. coli Blog

 We borrow this from the Marler Blog, where it was filed earlier today:

An E. coli lawsuit was filed today on behalf of a Denver-area child who became gravely ill with E. coli O157:H7 after eating refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the family of Madison Sedbrook by her attorneys, William Marler of the Seattle-based foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark and Kara Knowles of the Denver firm Montgomery, Little, Soran, & Murray.

Six-year-old Madison ate Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough several times in mid-April, 2009.  She began to experience flu-like symptoms including fatigue, fever, nausea, and vomiting.  Not knowing the source of her illness, she continued to eat Nestle cookie dough, and by the first week of May, she had abdominal cramps, fever, and bloody diarrhea.  Over the next several weeks, the family sought medical care several times for Madison’s illness, which deepened in severity.  She was admitted to the hospital and then released before being rushed back and admitted to pediatric intensive care.  It was determined that Madison had hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a complication of her E. coli infection, which was not diagnosed until her second hospital stay.  The genetic fingerprint of the E. coli O157:H7 found in her stool matches that of the nationwide outbreak tied to cookie dough.

“This child – and this family – have been through a terrible ordeal, not the least of which is how many times they sought care before E. coli was detected,” said Marler, who spoke from the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) convention..  “In order to detect and limit foodborne illness outbreaks, we have to make changes in our healthcare system; doctors and emergency health providers need to be encouraged to test for foodborne pathogens any time these symptoms – especially bloody diarrhea - are present.”   

On Monday, the CDC released updated information on the nationwide outbreak, which now encompasses 70 ill in 30 states.  Thirty people have been hospitalized, and 7 have developed HUS.  Almost seventy percent of the victims are female and under the age of 19.  Nestle USA has voluntarily recalled the product, and stopped production at the facility that made it and are cooperating with FDA and CDC to pinpoint the cause.

“State health departments did a great job of getting to the bottom of this outbreak, and getting the word out,” continued Marler.  “But more resources are needed to speed the process up.  Every day saved means dozens, maybe hundreds of families spared the Sedbrook family experience.”

ABOUT MARLER CLARK: William Marler has been a major force in food safety policy in the United States and abroad.  His food safety blog, Marler Blog, is read by over 1,000,000 people around the world every year.  He and his partners at Marler Clark have represented thousands of individuals in claims against food companies whose contaminated products have caused serious injury and death.  His advocacy for better food regulation has led to invitations to address local, national, and international gatherings on food safety, including recent testimony to US Congress Committee on Energy and Commerce.  In 1998, Mr. Marler formed the not for profit, Outbreak Inc.  He spends much of the year speaking on how to prevent foodborne illnesses.

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Fernando and Yvonne Iturriria are neighbors of Grimmway Farms outside Bakersfield, CA. They raise sheep next door to Grimmway Farms, which grows carrots.

After the sheep recently got into the carrots, Grimmway Farms destroyed 75 acres out of concern that sheep droppings might have left the carrots contaminated with E. coli or some other food-borne illness.

Now Grimmway Enteprises Inc. of Bakersfield, CA has filed a lawsuit against the Iturririas for $230,059,34 in damages plus attorney's fees.

A hearing is planned for July 14 in Kern County Superior Court.

 

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 In a 2-to-1 vote,  the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled against the State of Oklahoma in the ongoing "poultry litter" litigation.   The action continues a  federal trial  court's denial of Oklahoma's motion to stop Tyson Foods and other chicken companies from dumping "poultry litter" on land within the Illinois River Basin.

The Denver-based Appeals Court found Oklahoma did not prove poultry litter contamination was responsible for pollution of the river basin. So-called "poultry litter" covers everything from bird droppings to fertilizer and the bedding material used under the chicks. It also collects all sorts of bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter, all of which can lead to illness and even death in humans.

Oklahoma is suing the chicken industry under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The state sought a preliminary injunction to block dumping poultry litter on the one million acre basin. The Illinois River is popular for water recreation, and provides drinking water for local residents.

The Appeals Court ruling means it will be business as usual for the poultry industry in the IRB unless and until Oklahoma wins at the trial court level.   Its RCRA lawsuit could be heard later this year.   Had Oklahoma won this round in the Appeals Court, it would have been in a much stronger position going forward.

The Courthouse News Service reported:

"The district court, based on the evidence presented, simply could not establish a sufficient link between land-applied poultry litter and bacteria in the [watershed]," Judge Kelly wrote, "and therefore preliminary injunctive relief was not appropriate."

In a partial dissent, Judge Ebel said the lower court had applied an overly strict legal standard in evaluating the state's claims.  The state needed only to demonstrate a substantial risk of harm, not prove causation, Ebel argued.

While not in the Illinois River Basin, the Town of Locust Grove, OK has figured in the state's fight with the poultry industry.   Attorney General Drew Edmondson blames "poultry litter" for last year's outbreak of E. coli 0111 at the town's Country Cottage restaurant.  The state's official report on the outbreak, however, did not make such a connection.

The court's decision can be found here.

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  On June 9, 2007, United Food Group voluntarily expanded its June 3 and 6 recalls to include a total of approximately 5.7 million pounds of both fresh and frozen ground beef products produced between April 6 and April 20 because it was contaminated with E. coliO157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service found.

It was first major hamburger recall since 2002.

An investigation carried out by the California Department of Health Services and the Colorado Department of Health, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preceded the recall of June 3.  Illnesses occurred in Arizona (6), California (3), Colorado (2), Idaho (1), Utah (1) and Wyoming (1).  Illness onset dates ranged between April 25 and May 18, 2007.

Four of those illnesses were children who developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).   Their stories, like the stories of other victims of HUS linked to hamburger consumption, began with that all-American past time of eating a hamburger then lead to an acute illness where death was a real possibility.  Now, it is a lifetime of risk of kidney failure.

Click on the pictures of the children below to learn about both the acute phase of their illness and the risk of future complications.  It is time now to prevent the next outbreak whether it is caused by contaminated hamburger or some other food product.

 

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I’ve been waiting a long time to make this post – more than two years. Today we settled a lawsuit against Nebraska Beef Inc. on behalf of two Longville, Minnesota families, those of Ellie Wheeler and Carolyn Hawkinson. We have been litigating for a long, long, time, and today a settlement was reached (for an undisclosed sum).

The story is a grim one. The members of the Salem Lutheran Church purchased beef for a church dinner - beef sourced, as we alleged, from Nebraska Beef Inc., and contaminated with E. coli. More than a dozen fell ill, including Ellie Wheeler, from the resulting E. coli infections, and Carolyn Hawkinson lost her life. When the tainted meat was traced to Nebraska Beef and they were sued, Nebraska Beef responded by suing the Church for—in effect—not cooking the deadly toxin out of the meat.

Today the families can finally begin to put their lives back together – lives ripped apart by the loss and injury of loved ones and by the massive medical bills that come with serious illness. Unbelievably, there have been other outbreaks traced to Nebraska Beef since the Longville outbreak; more have experienced the loss of health and financial security.

All the victims and families would rather time could be rolled back and the lives – and livelihood – of their family members could be restored. Nothing would make me happier than a safe food supply where no-one is sickened by what they eat. In the mean time, compensation is the best we can give those families, while we work to prevent it happening again.

News Coverage:

Minn. E. coli lawsuit against church settled

Attorney Bill Marler, who represented the Hawkinson and Wheeler families, said Monday the terms of the settlement are confidential.

The settlement resolves the claims against Nebraska Beef Ltd., Interstate Meat Services Inc. and Tabaka's Super Valu. All those companies were involved in producing, distributing and selling the beef involved.

Attorney Gary Gordon, who represented Omaha-based Nebraska Beef, confirmed the case had been settled but wouldn't comment on the details.

Nebraska Beef's counter lawsuit against the church was an oddity. Marler said he's never heard of a food manufacturer suing a private entity like a church, although he has seen cases where the manufacturer sued a restaurant.

Filing the claim against the church was a boneheaded legal strategy, Marler said when it was filed in October 2007.

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When the Minnesota-based Agricultural giant Cargill dumps on you...well it is not a pretty site.  The privately-owned company still 85 percent controlled by the descendants of the MacMillan and Cargill families.  It clicks off $1 billion in profits a quarter and its $120 billion in annual revenues would put it in the top 20 if it were publicly traded and eligible for the Fortune 500.

Between the 9th and 17ths of August, 2007, Cargill's meat processing plant in Butler, Wisconsin produced frozen beef patties that were contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. Those patties mostly went to Walmart and Sam's Club stores for sale to the general public. In October, 2007, Cargill recalled 850,000 pounds of the frozen beef.   The E. coli contamination was discovered by the Minnesota food safety officials.

People in multiple states ate the poison.  Today comes word that the family of 9-year old Ruth Hemmingson of Mahtomedi, MN has sued Cargill. The girl spent a month in St. Paul Children's Hospital after her organs shut down from E coli poisoning.

Channel 5, the ABC affiliate in the Twin Cities, reports:

The family's current medical bills and future medical needs are expected to top $4 million, according to the lawsuit. The company and the family could not agree on a settlement.

 "You kind of stand there with your hands up in the air, somebody help us and take responsibility," said Ruth's father, Art Hemmingson. "And that's what we're asking Cargill to do - is take responsiblity for what they've done."

"She's the only nine-year-old I know who has a burial site. I mean, that's how serious it got," said Leah Hemmingson, Ruth's mother.

Ruth is among four Minnesota children who got sick after eating American Chefs Brand frozen beef patties. 

Ruth's lawyers are Sieben, Crose, Von Holtum & Carey in Minneapolis and Marler Clark in Seattle. So far, there's been no comment from Cargill.

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 Two separate lawsuits were filed against R & S Meats, Inc. in New York State today: one in Brooklyn, at the U. S. District Court, Eastern District, and the second in Riverhead, at the New York State Supreme Court.

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of children infected with E. coli O157:H7 after consuming meat from the Huntington, NY business. The families are represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle food borne illness law firm, and by Paul Nunes of the Rochester, New York firm Underberg & Kessler.

In July 2008, the Dalbo family traveled from North Carolina and attended a July 3 event at the Bay Club in Huntington, NY. Event organizers had purchased hamburger patties from R & S Meats, which were later consumed by the Dablo’s young daughter. The child began to feel ill on July 6. The family returned home to North Carolina, and on July 8, the child was rushed to the hospital with fever, cramps, and frequent, violent bouts of bloody diarrhea. A stool culture revealed that she was infected with E. coli O157:H7.

The child’s health continued to deteriorate. She developed HUS (Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome), total kidney failure, hemolytic anemia, and thrombocytophenia (a dangerously low blood platelet level). She received multiple blood transfusions and had to be fed through a tube. As the illness developed, she was moved to Duke University Medical Center for dialysis.  She was discharged from the hospital after more than a month, but continued to struggle with the illness. It took months for her body to regain its natural functions. She has sustained permanent damage from the infection, and will require many years of follow-up care.

“What this child—and family—went through is almost indescribable,” said attorney William Marler. “Even under high-level medical care, E. coli ravages the body, especially in children. There are interventions that help deal with the cascading illnesses, but there is no pill or treatment to make it better. The only real cure is to rid our food supply of this highly toxic pathogen.” 

The Purcell family of Huntington, NY also attended the July 3 barbecue at the Bay Club. One of their children consumed hamburgers at the function, and fell ill several days later with gastric distress, abdominal cramps, and bloody diarrhea. After being collected from summer camp, she was admitted to the hospital and found to be infected with E. coli O157:H7. She was treated for several days, and continues to recover from her illness.

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Deaths of elderly people suffering from other illnesses that are ultimately struck down by E. coli or Salmonella often end up with a confused death certificate being issued.   We saw that during the recent Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak when the two men who died were recovering from un-related diseases when what they ate proved fatal.    Remember the first victim who was out celebrating his recovery from cancer when he was struck down by eating contaminated tomatoes or peppers?

That's why a case in Nebraska that is making news is significant.   The Omaha World Herald reports on what is going on this way:

A Bellevue woman and her husband say her mother's death should warn hospitals and doctors that bloody diarrhea can be a sign of deadly E. coli.

Ruby Trautz died in August 2006 during a large, nationwide E. coli outbreak involving tainted spinach.

Her daughter and son-in-law, Polly and Ken Costello, have sued Creighton University Medical Center, Creighton University and Creighton physicians, saying they misdiagnosed Trautz's case.

Although the suit calls for financial damages, the Costellos say what they really want is for Creighton to establish a protocol in which a patient showing bloody diarrhea automatically is tested for E. coli.

Check out the rest of the story here.

 

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 After two days of mediation in New York City earlier this week, our own Bill Marler was able to resolve several cases. However, a number were left unresolved. As readers recall, on August 31, 2007 a consumer complaint was filed with the USDA after a Florida resident fell ill after consuming a hamburger patty produced by Topps Meat Company (“Topps”) on July 12, 2007. The resident tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 on September 4, 2007. This was followed by similar reports of illnesses connected with Topps product in New York State and elsewhere in the following days. On or before September 8, 2007 the USDA had confirmed a sample from a Topps hamburger had tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Additional illnesses continued to be reported.

Topps took no action to remove its products from the shelves until September 25, 2007. On that date, the USDA announced that Topps was recalling 332,000 pounds of ground beef due to contamination with E. coli O157:H7. The initial recall encompassed only products produced on June 22, July 12, and July 23, 2007. The New York Department of Health subsequently reported that an intact sample with a production date of June 21, 2007 had also tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. At the same time, a USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) conducted an inspection of Topps’s plant in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The FSIS inspection of Topps’s plant and procedures at its Elizabeth, New Jersey facility on September 26, 2007 revealed alarming deficiencies in the firm’s safety programs. The problems began with the raw materials. Topps received boxed sub-primal products, which did not carry Certificates of Analysis (COA). Topps initially used these boxed sub-primal cuts only for non-ground product. But, Topps then mixed the trim, the left-overs after butchering, with the raw materials being used for its ground beef products. The trim was placed into the grinding operation without testing for E. coli O157:H7. This practice was in violation of federal regulations. See 9 CFR 417.5 (a) 1. The FSIS then concluded that this failure to ensure that product intended for grinding was free of E. coli O157:H7 called into question the “adequacy of the design and execution of your prerequisite program and HACCP [Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point] program.”

FSIS inspectors also found various sanitation deficiencies at the facility. During the pre-operational inspection FSIS personnel noted that “the patty making machine had gouges, cracks, and tears in the neoprene transfer belt used to move raw patties to packaging.” The inspectors also noted a history of prior non-conformance records relating directly to raw product residue on equipment surfaces. The FSIS concluded:

The recurring deficiencies of unsanitary equipment documented by USDA…provide evidence that [Topps] failed to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the sanitation SOPs [standard operating procedures].” See Notice of Suspension.

 

Continue Reading...

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The first lawsuit stemming from the Snohomish county E. coli outbreak was filed earlier this week in the Superior Court for the State of Washington, County of Snohomish. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the minor child of Alison and Ray Riojas of Snohomish County, against Ixtapa Family Mexican Restaurant, which has been identified as the source of the outbreak.

The Riojas family ate at the Ixtapa Restaurant in Lake Stevens on or about October 11. One of their daughters began to feel ill on October 13, and on the 14th was sent home from school. She began to experience diarrhea, which soon turned bloody. On October 16, Mrs. Riojas took her daughter to the pediatrician, where she was advised to go to the Children’s Hospital Emergency Room. At the ER, the child was treated for dehydration and released. Over that day, her symptoms continued to worsen. In severe pain, she was returned to the ER, where she was treated with pain medication and allowed to go home. That night, the child was taken to the ER for a third time, where she began to vomit blood. She was admitted, and a stool sample revealed that she was infected with E. coli O157:H7. The genetic pattern of her E. coli would later match others in the developing outbreak tied to the Ixtapa Restaurant.
The Riojas child has returned home where she continues to recover from her illness. She lost 9 pounds and is too weak to walk; if she has to move, her parents carry her.

News Coverage:

Lawsuit filed in E. coli outbreak tied to Lake Stevens restaurant

Lawsuit filed in Snohomish County E. coli outbreak

Lake Stevens eatery reopens as E. coli suit filed

Family files suit in Lake Stevens E. coli sickness

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A Boy Scout who was infected by E. coli O157:H7 while attending camp in Virginia filed suit today in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Zachary Yost and his mother, Devon Drew, against S & S Foods LLC. The plaintiffs are represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness, and Maryland attorney Benson Klein of Ward & Klein.

In August 2008, 84 people at a Boy Scout camp near Goshen, Virginia were infected with a highly toxic form of E. coli, the O157:H7 strain. The outbreak was traced to hamburger meat manufactured and sold by S & S Foods of California. Zachary Yost attended the camp from July 20 through July 26. Yost ate hamburger meat while at camp, and fell ill on July 26. He experienced cramping, nausea, and diarrhea, which by July 29 became bloody. In the process of receiving medical care, he tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. S & S hamburger meat at the camp also tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, and the company recalled more than 150,000 pounds of meat.

“There has been a record amount of E. coli-tainted meat recalled in the last year and a half,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney William Marler. “Unfortunately, that has meant that that there have also been a record number of E. coli illnesses. Victims all over the country are suffering because of the breakdown of our meat supply safety system. Everyone deserves pathogen-free meat—in restaurants, grocery stores, and summer camp!”

E. coli is often contracted by consuming food or beverage that has been contaminated by animal (especially cattle) manure. The majority of food borne E. coli outbreaks has been traced to contaminated ground beef; however leafy vegetables that have been contaminated in fields or during processing have been increasingly identified as the source of outbreaks, as have unpasteurized milk and cheese, unpasteurized apple juice and cider, alfalfa and radish sprouts, orange juice, and even water. There have also been outbreaks associated with petting zoos and agricultural fairs.

“Zachary has yet to test free of E. coli,” continued Marler. “His body is still fighting the infection, and restricting what he can do. Meat companies need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the effects their tainted products have on consumers.”
 

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An ambitious and well-meaning attempt to make California’s dairy products safer arrives this week in the California Assembly in the form of State Bill 201—but the country’s top food safety advocates are calling on California legislators to vote against it. The bill places regulations on producers of raw milk dairy products and lays groundwork intended to stem the tide of deadly food borne illnesses tied to the raw milk industry, like that of Chris Martin.

 

The bill sounds like a good thing, and may have enough support to reach the Governor’s desk, where the same advocates encourage a veto. What’s the problem? SB201 unintentionally creates a loophole that will allow companies to produce raw milk virtually unregulated during the long process of developing HACCP regulation, which is sure to result in more heartbreaking illnesses like Chris’s. For the full story, see the post on Marler blog

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The first E. coli lawsuit in the Ohio and Michigan E. coli outbreak was filed today in the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, Ohio against Kroger and its as yet unidentified meat supplier (“John Doe”).  The complaint was filed by Marler Clark attorneys on behalf of a New Albany resident who was infected with the toxic E. coli strain O157:H7 after eating ground beef purchased from a Dublin, Ohio Kroger.

The lawsuit states that the plaintiff purchased beef patties from the Kroger at 7100 Perimeter Loop Road in Dublin on June 4.  She cooked and consumed the beef that same day.  She began feeling ill on June 8, and over the next two days her symptoms became increasingly severe.  By June 10, she was experiencing intense nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps.  She was admitted to the hospital, where she tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.  She was released on June 12, and continues to recover from her illness.

E. coli illnesses began showing up in central Ohio in mid-June.  This was paralleled by a sharp increase in E. coli cases in Michigan.  By June 20, officials had genetically linked many of the Ohio and Michigan cases; the days that followed, the outbreak was traced to ground beef from Kroger stores.  With illnesses nearing 30, Kroger initiated a voluntary recall on June 25.  The products subject to recall include all varieties and weights of ground beef products bearing a Kroger label sold between May 21 and June 8 at Michigan stores, as well as Kroger stores in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio.  These ground beef products are marked with a sell-by date between 05/21/08 and 06/08/08.

Since the spring of 2007 over 34 million pounds of E. coli contaminated beef has been recalled by different companies.  Kroger has recalled beef and beef products at least five times over the last seven years:

•  2001: Excel Corporation of Newnan, GA recalled 190,000 pounds of fresh ground beef and pork that had been distributed to Kroger stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
•  2002: Kroger stores in 18 states recalled ConAgra ground beef products. In all, 18.6 million pounds of beef was recalled.  45 People in 23 states became ill with E. coli from the tainted meat. One woman in Ohio died.
•  2002 - One store in Arkansas recalled 240 pounds ground beef, no illnesses.
•  2003: Green Bay Dressed Beef doing business as American Foods Group recalled 106,000 pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef products distributed under the Kroger logo.
•  2007 - United Food Group recalled 5.7 million pounds of beef, including ground beef sold at Kroger.

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The Reading Eagle this morning (5/30) reports that Yum Brands, parent company of Taco Bell, is being sued for $5 million in federal court by Debra Moyer of Boyertown.   The newspaper said the woman was the victim of E coli contaminated food served by a Gilbertsville Taco Bell in 2006.  Her lawyer spoke for her.

William Marler, a Seattle-based attorney who litigates E. coli cases, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

Moyer spent more than a month in the hospital and was in a coma for a week after she became sick in November 2006, Marler said Thursday.

Moyer, 48, has suffered permanent kidney damage and will require life-long treatments, Marler said.

The suit is seeking $5 million for past and future medical expenses, he said.

"A lot of people as sick as Debbie frankly don’t survive," Marler said. "She has made pretty good strides in her recovery."

Marler commented on the case on his blog here,  Yum offers "quick serve" food from 35,000 outlets in 100 countries.  It is based in Louisville, KY.

 

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An E. coli lawsuit was filed today against Yum Brands—the parent company of Taco Bell—in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Debra Moyer, a resident of Boyertown, PA, who became gravely ill with an E. coli infection after eating contaminated food from a Taco Bell in Gilbertsville. 

Ms. Moyer is a victim of an outbreak of the highly toxic E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in four Northeastern states in November, 2006, associated with contaminated lettuce served at various Taco Bell restaurants.

More than 70 people who ate at Taco Bell restaurants in Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were infected, and eight developed the life-threatening complication Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), including Ms. Moyer.

Ms. Moyer was hospitalized for 31 days, her kidneys failed, she experienced seizures and was in a coma for weeks, and she has sustained permanent renal injury. Ms. Moyer’s case, however, has not yet been resolved, despite the far greater relative severity of her illness and of her substantially greater loss. Taco Bell has yet to make an offer that would be adequate to pay for Ms. Moyer’s hospital bills and to compensate her for her past and present injuries.

 “Ms. Moyer barely survived her acute illness, and her life has been permanently and negatively affected,” said food borne illness attorney William Marler. “She is disabled, and both her body and her finances have been ravaged by this illness. It is imperative that corporations take responsibility when their products wreak this kind of personal destruction.”

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One thing that has always struck us as odd is the difference between the way society treats individual versus corporate wrongdoing.   Take for example, someone who has one drink too much and then drives, ending up causing serious injury or death to someone else.

Rightly or wrongly, our laws--both criminal and civil--will devastate that irresponsible driver.  Jail, loss of job, civil judgments that take everything the irresponsible individual has are common.

When, however, an irresponsible corporation causes someone serious injury or death, the impact on the business usually isn't that much.

Take for example the  two Utah women, clients of Marler Clark, that earlier this week sued Wendy's in federal court in Salt Lake City.    Wendy's corporate has been well aware of the very serious injuries suffered by the two women since they had the misfortune of being customers in June 2006.

Yet,  is Wendy's worried about being ruined by this litigation.   Hardly.  In one of its recent filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) it said;

The Company and its subsidiaries are parties to various legal actions and complaints arising in the ordinary course of business. Many of these are covered by the Company’s self-insurance or other insurance programs. Reserves related to the resolution of legal proceedings are included on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets, as a liability in Accrued expenses—Other. It is the opinion of the Company that the ultimate resolution of such matters will not materially affect the Company’s financial condition or earnings.

The 6,645 unit Wendy's chain is being sold to Atlanta-based Triarc Companies, Inc. for a mere $2.56  billion.  Triarc is controlled by Atlanta billionaire Nelson Peltz and already runs the 3,700 unit Arby's chain.   The whole deal is suppose to close in the second half of the year.

It's good to know that the little lawsuits brought by Lesiel Calvert and her husband, who live in Weber County, and Megan Richards and her husband, who live in Cache County, won't get in the way of one corporate giant eating another.

Their attorney-- Bill Marler --says all the women did was eat bad lettuce served up by Wendy's in North Ogden, Utah and  then became so sick that they had to remain in the hospital for weeks.  Its these two women who've been devastated,  while Wendy's--the perpetrator--has been busy counting its billions.

A story on the filing of the lawsuit against Wendy's can be found  here.

 

 

 

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Marler Clark filed two E. coli lawsuits against Organic Pastures on February 7, 2008. The lawsuits were filed in Fresno County Superior Court on behalf of two children who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) secondary to E. coli O157:H7 infection after consuming Organic Pastures raw milk.

The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) conducted an investigation into the E. coli outbreak in September of 2006. CDHS and CDFA identified six children who had become ill with either E. coli O157:H7 or HUS and learned that all six had consumed Organic Pastures raw milk or colostrum in the days before becoming ill.

While investigating the cause of the children’s illness, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), or “genetic fingerprinting” confirmed that five of the six children were infected with the same strain of E. coli; the sixth did not test positive for E. coli but had HUS. An investigation at Organic Pastures led to the discovery that several cows were infected with E. coli O157:H7, although the strain was different from the outbreak strain. CDHS determined that unpasteurized dairy products from Organic Pastures were the likely source of the outbreak.

Eleven-year-old Lauren Herzog and 9-year-old Chris Martin both consumed raw milk produced by Organic Pastures in early September of 2006. Lauren became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection on September 6. Her illness subsequently developed into HUS, a life-threatening complication of E. coli infection that can cause kidney failure and central nervous system impairment, and she was hospitalized on September 8. Lauren suffered acute renal failure and required approximately two weeks of daily kidney dialysis. She remained hospitalized until October 18, 2006, when she was discharged with over $250,000 in medical bills.

Chris became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection on September 5, 2006 and he was hospitalized on September 7. Like Lauren, Chris suffered HUS. His condition worsened and he was transported by helicopter to a Children’s hospital and was placed in pediatric intensive care. Chris’ kidneys failed and he required weeks of daily dialysis, as well as multiple blood transfusions. He was placed on a ventilator as a result of impending congestive heart failure, and remained on the ventilator for five days, was briefly taken off the ventilator, and later returned for several more days. Chris suffered a number of seizures as a result of his HUS. He also developed high blood pressure and pancreatitis. Chris was discharged from the hospital on November 2, 2006, nearly two months after he was admitted, with over $450,000 in medical bills.

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Marti Davis of the Knoxville News Sentinel spoke with the McDonald family, whose two children became ill with E. coli infections last fall after eating Cargill ground beef patties.

Preschoolers John and Michaela McDonald shared a burger that led to a prolonged stay in intensive care and cost 4-year-old John part of his bowel and colon. The frozen hamburgers at Sam's Club near their West Knoxville home a few days before the patties were recalled.

Surgery to bypass John's digestive tract was reversed in December, and both children are well for now.

Only Jim McDonald, the children's father, has eaten ground beef since his children's illness. The rest of the family has not reintroduced ground beef into their diet.

The McDonald family, who is represented by Marler Clark, filed a lawsuit against Cargill last year, but has withdrawn the lawsuit in the hopes that Cargill will compensate the children for injuries they sustained through mediation instead of a jury trial.
 

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Lawyers for parties involved in claims that arose from the 2006 E. coli outbreak traced to contaminated spinach from California's Salinas Valley are meeting this week in the hopes of resolving claims brought by several Marler Clark clients.  Dawn Withers, a reporter with the Salinas Californian, interviewed attorney Bill Marler about the cases he is negotiating this week in a story that appeared in today's paper. 

The cases under negotiation this week involve people sickened in Utah, New York and Wisconsin, Marler said.

The lawyer is negotiating settlements with Dole, Natural Selection Foods and Mission Organics.

Cases involving deaths have been settled, Marler said, while cases involving people who were sickened, but not gravely, are also almost settled. What remains are cases involving people who suffered extreme illness, usually kidney failure or complications, he said.

During the 2006 spinach outbreak, 205 people were confirmed ill with the strain of E. coli responsible for the outbreak, and five people died. Public health agencies ultimately identified the source of the outbreak as Dole-brand baby spinach that was processed at Natural Selections Foods and grown by Mission Organics

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The Associated Press broke the story yesterday that a Wisconsin family's E. coli lawsuit - one stemming from the 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak - had been resolved without going to trial.  Dinesh Ramde, AP business writer, wrote:

The agreement was reached in October but not filed in federal court until last week. It still needs approval from a federal judge, which Marler said he is confident will happen.

The national outbreak in September 2006 was traced to tainted spinach produced by Natural Selection Foods LLC. Three people died, including 77-year-old Marion Graff of Manitowoc.

Of the 204 people sickened by the tainted greens, Marler said about 100 have brought a lawsuit. His firm is handling 83 cases and has resolved 51 within the past few months.

On September 14, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that a nationwide E. coli outbreak had been associated with the consumption of bagged baby spinach. For fear of E. coli contamination, all bagged spinach was recalled nationwide, and on September 19, 2006, FDA announced that all spinach implicated in the outbreak had been traced back to Natural Selection Foods, a company located in California’s Salinas Valley.

FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 204 E. coli illnesses associated with the spinach E. coli outbreak, including thirty-one cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, 104 hospitalizations, and three deaths. Victims of the E. coli outbreak were identified in 26 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Wisconsin was the state hardest-hit in the outbreak, with 49 confirmed cases of E. coli. Canada reported one confirmed case.

A joint trace back by FDA and the State of California revealed that four spinach fields were the possible source of the E. coli contamination. The outbreak strain of E. coli was isolated from cattle fields nearby the implicated spinach fields, as well as from a wild boar that was killed in one of the fields.

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Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Knoxville, Tennessee, residents Jim and Georgia McDonald and their two children, who both became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections and were hospitalized after eating hamburgers made from Cargill ground beef patties.

Four-year-old John McDonald was seen in the emergency room, where he was treated for dehydration and released. The next day, he was taken by ambulance to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and was admitted. While hospitalized, John developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, pancreatitis, compromised liver function, and bowel necrosis.

He was later transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for dialysis, and on October 16th underwent surgery to have part of his bowel removed. After nearly a month’s hospitalization, John was discharged from the hospital, but has not yet fully recovered from his E. coli infection and the following complications.

One-year-old Michaela McDonald fell ill with symptoms of E. coli infection about a day after John, and was treated for dehydration at the emergency room. Michaela was then admitted to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. When her brother was transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Michaela was also transferred. She remained hospitalized for over a week.
 

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Marler Clark has filed the firm's second E. coli lawsuit against Cargill today on behalf of Elk River, Minnesota, residents John and Barb Reber and their son, Scott.

Scott Reber became ill with an E. coli infection and was hospitalized for three days after eating a hamburger made from a Cargill ground beef patty.

“To date, Cargill has made no effort to compensate my clients for medical expenses or lost wages even though its product has been definitively linked to their illnesses,” said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. “It’s time players in the meat industry, the USDA, and other entities involved in ensuring meat safety stepped up to the plate and stopped talking about putting food safety first and put money where their mouths are.”
 

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The Ithaca Journal's coverage of an E. coli lawsuit filed against Topps by Marler Clark highlights the firm's decision to ask the Court to award punitive damages to an 8-year-old child and his mother, who both became ill with E. coli infections after eating Topps ground beef patties at a barbecue.

According to the Associated Press, consumer groups, including the Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America, are asking that the U.S. Department of Agriculture gain the authority to issue recalls.

While the FDA is a pro-consumer agency, it has no jurisdiction over meat and poultry.

“The USDA does not even have the statutory authority to force a recall. They cannot recall a product; they can only ask Topps to do so. In this case they didn't,” said Marler Clark Attorney David W. Babcock.
 

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A lawsuit seeking punitive damages was filed today against Topps, the New Jersey beef supplier that recalled nearly a year's supply of frozen ground beef patties after its products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak in September.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Keith and Kristin Goodwin and their 8-year-old son, Lucas, by Seattle-based Marler Clark and Rochester-based Underberg & Kessler.

The lawsuit states that Topps had knowledge of consumer illness tied to its products and a positive E. coli sample from its ground beef patties no later than September 8th, seven days before Kristin and Lucas Goodwin ate Topps hamburgers.

Kristin was released from the hospital on September 26th, but Lucas developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and remained hospitalized for eight days. While they were hospitalized, Topps recalled 332,000 pounds of ground beef products.  The company later expanded the recall to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef.
 

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Seattle attorney William Marler called today on Cargill to front medical costs for victims of an E. coli outbreak traced to the company's frozen ground beef patties. Victims of the outbreak include families of children who have been hospitalized in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

“Without assistance in the form of monetary compensation for medical expenses and lost wages, many of the families with members in the hospital will face financial hardship in the coming months when the bills start coming in,” said Marler, who filed a lawsuit against Cargill on behalf of a Minnesota family yesterday. “Cargill should do the right thing and begin compensating victims of this outbreak for those most basic needs now. Of course, Cargill will still be responsible for the costs of long-term medical care for victims, but it is better to step up now.”

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An E. coli lawsuit was filed today in Minnesota against Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, the meat company whose frozen ground beef products were identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in September and October.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Dakota County residents Eric and Jennifer Gustafson and their two children, Callie and Carson, who both suffered E. coli infections after eating Cargill ground beef patties at a barbecue.

The Gustafson children’s cases were two of three E. coli cases that triggered an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture which eventually led to Cargill’s recall of 845,000 pounds of frozen ground beef patties for E. coli contamination. The Cargill products were sold at retail establishments, including Sam’s Club, and to restaurants and other institutions throughout the United States.

 

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A lawsuit has been filed against Topps Meat Company, the meat producer whose ground beef products have been identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, and who expanded a ground beef recall to include 21.7 million pounds of meat over the weekend.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Albany County, New York, residents Robert and Catherine McDonald and their young daughter, who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized after eating a hamburger made of Topps Meats ground beef

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Today, Hawaiian health officials announced that an E. coli outbreak in March has been traced to lettuce grown on Kaua'i.

All eight people were most likely infected by eating contaminated lettuce from a Kaua'i farm, where heavy rains and flooding had carried E. coli bacteria from a cattle pasture onto the lettuce patch.

Officials declined to name the farm they suspect was the source of the lettuce.

The state Department of Health said that the eight victims, including the four who required hospital care, have recovered without complications from the outbreak of a strain of E. coli O157, whose symptoms include abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea and which in severe cases can cause kidney failure.
 

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A lawsuit was filed today against the Meat Market, a Fresno, California, business that was identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in May. The lawsuit was filed in Fresno County Superior Court by Seattle-based Marler Clark and San Diego-based Gordon & Holmes on behalf of Donald Jorgensen, an 80-year-old Fresno resident who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized for 15 days with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli infection that caused his kidneys to fail, after eating "tri-tip" purchased from the Meat Market and served at a graduation party.

The lawsuit is the third meat-related E. coli lawsuit filed by Marler Clark in two weeks. The firm has also filed lawsuits against United Food Group in California, and PM Beef Holdings in Michigan.   “The number of E. coli outbreaks traced to beef products in the last few months is disconcerting,” commented William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. “We haven’t seen millions of pounds of meat being recalled since 2002. I thought the beef industry had cleaned up, but there is obviously still a ways to go before people like Mr. Jorgensen can feel confident in the safety of the meat products they are eating.”

Mr. Jorgensen was one of 27 people who became ill with E. coli infections after eating tri-tip from the Meat Market in May. In April, Richwood Meat Co. of Merced, California, recalled 107,900 pounds of frozen ground beef products, and HFX, Inc., of South Claysburg, Pennsylvania, recalled 4,900 pounds of meat products. Both had been linked to E. coli outbreaks. In May, PM Beef Holdings of Windom, Minnesota, recalled 117,500 pounds of beef trim products, and Davis Creek Meats and Seafood of Kalamazoo, Michigan, recalled 129,000 pounds of beef products after their products were linked to E. coli outbreaks. In June, United Food Group of Vernon, California, has recalled 5.7 million pounds of ground beef since its products were traced as the source of an E. coli outbreak, and Tyson Fresh Meats of Sherman, Texas, has recalled 440,000 pounds of ground beef for possible E. coli contamination.
 

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Chris Waldrop, director of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. sees a disturbing return:

"It looked like (improvements in food safety) were working, but something has happened. Something's going on in the food supply chain. We need to figure out what that is. We can't let our guard down. We need to have the same level of vigilance."

Testing at beef processing plants varies from processor to processor, but relies on a combination of industry and USDA guidelines and beef industry "best practices," according to the Sacramento Bee.

In a 2006 Texas A&M study prepared for the beef industry, examples included sampling finished ground beef products every 15 minutes to test specifically for E. coli O157:H7; documenting the source of raw material through lot or serial numbers; and discouraging the introduction of excess meat into the processing flow.

The United Foods recall is the largest of a number of recalls in recent months. In all, more than 6 million pounds of ground beef and related products have been recalled from stores and distribution sites in 25 states since April.
 

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The first lawsuit stemming from an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to ground beef produced by United Food Group, Inc. was filed yesterday in Riverside County Superior Court, in California.

The lawsuit was filed against UFG by Seattle-based Marler Clark and San Diego-based Gordon and Holmes on behalf of Lawrence Fournier and Cynthia Centura of Hemet, California, whose four-year-old daughter, Lauren, became ill with an E. coli infection and was hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe, life-threatening complication of E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure, after eating UFG ground beef.

“The meat industry has made significant progress in preventing E. coli outbreaks traced to meat products in the last five years,” said William Marler, who has dedicated his law practice to representing victims of foodborne illness outbreaks since representing over 100 victims of the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. “One has to ask, ‘Who dropped the ball at UFG?’”

On June 3, 2007, UFG recalled 75,000 pounds of ground beef due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. After additional testing and more reported illnesses, UFG expanded the recall on June 6 to include 370,000 pounds of ground beef. By June 9, UFG had again expanded its recall to include a total of approximately 5.7 million pounds of both fresh and frozen ground beef products.

The California Department of Health Services, the Colorado Department of Health, and the CDC reported 14 illnesses associated with the outbreak – 6 in Arizona, 3 in California, 2 in Colorado, 1 in Idaho, 1 in Utah, and 1 in Wyoming.
 

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A lawsuit has been filed against PM Beef Holdings, LLC and Lund Food Holdings, Inc., the producer and retailer who sold E. coli-contaminated ground beef traced to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin residents in April, 2007.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Minneapolis, Minnesota, woman who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized after eating contaminated ground beef in April. The plaintiff is represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm with a long track record of successfully representing victims of foodborne illness.

The plaintiff is one of seven Minnesotans who were confirmed as part of the E. coli outbreak that prompted PM Beef Holdings to recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products that was ground and sold at Lunds and Byerly’s stores. She consumed the ground beef on April 19, and became ill with symptoms of an E. coli O157:H7 infection, including bloody diarrhea, on April 24. The plaintiff was hospitalized twice between April 25 and April 30, when she was finally discharged to recover at home.

She has yet to make a full recovery.
 

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A lawsuit will be filed today against PM Beef Holdings, LLC and Lund Food Holdings, Inc., the producer and retailer who sold E. coli-contaminated ground beef traced to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin residents in April, 2007.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Anne Herwig, a Minneapolis resident who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized after eating contaminated ground beef in April.  Ms. Herwig is represented by Marler Clark. Ms. Herwig is one of seven Minnesotans who were confirmed as part of the E. coli outbreak that prompted PM Beef Holdings to recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products that was ground and sold at Lunds and Byerly’s stores.

 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have announced that the incidence of E. coli O157:H7 infection traced to ground beef products had significantly declined. CDC attributed the decline to the implementation of a new set of recommendations from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2002 and the beef industry's subsequent enhancement of food safety systems, including testing and control measures.

It is true that since 2002, there has been a general decline in the number of E. coli cases traced to red meat, and an increase in the number of E. coli cases traced to fresh produce, namely bagged lettuce and spinach. But in the last weeks E. coli outbreaks traced to beef products have underscored the importance of continued efforts to protect the public from E. coli in meat.

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Dee Creek Farms, the Washington dairy that was the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak among Washington and Oregon residents in 2005, has recently obtained a license to sell raw goats milk.

After the farm underwent renovations and constructed a milking area, the Washington Department of Agriculture granted Dee Creek Farms a license to bottle and sell the milk, but the license stipulates that the milk must be labeled as "raw" or "unpasteurized."

Dee Creek owners Anita and Michael Puckett are appealing the $8,000 state fine for health and safety violations uncovered while officials were investigating the outbreak and its cause. The administrative hearing is scheduled for June 12-13 in Vancouver.
 

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Marler Clark client Teresa Kaiser was recently interviewed by CNN regarding her E. coli infection.

Teresa became ill with an E. coli infection and suffered kidney failure after eating E. coli-contaminated lettuce at a Taco John's restaurant in Minnesota last November.  Although her kidney function is up to around 44 percent, Teresa now has high blood pressure.

She is looking for answers as to how the lettuce she consumed at Taco John's became contaminated, and health officials' investigation into the outbreak has been hampered since other recent outbreaks have demanded attention that would normally have been afforded to tracing back the Taco John's E. coli outbreak to its source.
 

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A settlement has been announced involving lawsuits filed against the Florida Strawberry Festival.

Health officials traced the 2005 E. coli outbreak to a petting zoo owned by Plant City-based Ag-Venture Farms, which had brought more than a dozen goats, sheep, cows and chickens to the Florida Strawberry Festival, the Florida State Fair in Tampa and the Central Florida Fair in Orlando.

About 50 people from six counties were sickened at the three events, and 15 filed lawsuits against the petting zoo, according to the Tampa Tribune. Those claims were resolved last year when the 15 victims shared a $1 million settlement from an insurance company representing the petting zoo.

Other suits are pending against the state fair and Central Florida Fair.
 

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Two victims of the 2005 E. coli outbreak traced to a petting zoo at the Florida Strawberry Festival have resolved claims brought against the festival last week.

Both victims, a woman and a young child, suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome and required extensive medical treatment, including dialysis, after contracting E. coli O157:H7 at the 2005 Florida Strawberry Festival.

The 2005 Florida E. coli outbreak was the 16th documented outbreak traced to animal exposure at a fair or petting zoo since 2000, including a widely publicized E. coli outbreak in North Carolina that occurred just months before.
 

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The Morning Call reports that Taco Bell may be reaching a settlement in their E. coli outbreak class action lawsuit.

“We've got a promise from Taco Bell that it will immediately mediate these cases,” said William Marler, who represents 20 clients who say Taco Bell's food made them ill. “I'm going to sit down with them in the next 30 days and try to resolve them. If we can't come to an agreement, we can refile the cases. Every indication I've had from Taco Bell lawyers is that they want to seriously sit down and get these cases resolved.”

Based on past food poisoning cases he's successfully argued, Marler believes each victim could receive at least tens of thousands of dollars for medical bills and other damages. He said he has resolved close to $300 million worth of food poisoning cases in 15 years.

Those who may have been hospitalized for a short period and did not develop complications can receive from $25,000 or $30,000 to half a million dollars depending on the severity of the case,'' Marler said. ''Any case where someone develops severe health problems could be worth multiple millions of dollars.''

Marler pointed to one ''severe'' case in which he claims a Pennsylvania woman was in a coma for at least three days and suffered kidney damage caused by E. coli. That woman is still being cared for by multiple doctors. Marler said the woman suffers from a form of kidney failure known as hemolytic urenic syndrome, which, according to the CDC, is a life-threatening condition that is often treated with blood transfusions and kidney dialysis.
 

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The California Department of Health Services and the FDA have released their final report on the spinach E. coli outbreak.

Authorities for the first time said they had isolated the deadly E. coli strain on Paicines Ranch in San Benito County from a field the ranch leased to Mission Organics, a spinach grower.

They found E. coli "indistinguishable from the outbreak strain" in river water, cattle feces, and wild pig feces on the ranch within a mile a from the spinach fields, the California Department of Health Services and U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a joint report.

Investigators also said they could not make a "definitive determination" as to how the E. coli contaminated the spinach.

The Paicines Ranch, which breeds Angus cattle and quarter horses, said in a statement on its Web site that it leases land to crop growers and was not under investigation in the outbreak.
 

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In an article by Fred Lucas of CNSNews.com on March 09, 2007 I was quoted:

Though the state of California did not specifically identify the property where the contaminated spinach came from, a law firm which brought a class-action suit against Dole Food Company -- which packaged some of the contaminated spinach -- added Mission Organics to the list of defendants.

The location of the contamination really doesn't matter to the lawsuit, said attorney Bill Marler, who represents 87 people filing a lawsuit against Dole Food Company. Nor does it matter to him that it came from a farm that was moving toward becoming an organic farm, since the spinach wasn't sold as organic.

"There are steps all parties could have taken to prevent the contamination from getting in the spinach," Marler said. "It's not really very significant. This is a strict product liability case and the target is Dole. How a product becomes contaminated is not something I care about."

"How a product becomes contaminated is not something I care about." What I meant to say is that in a strict product liability lawsuit how the product became contaminated does not matter a great deal in the legal context - the issue is that it should not be in a finished product in the first place.

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Los Angeles Times reporter Jerry Hirsch wrote about Taco Bell's five percent drop in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2006, and noted that Taco Bell cited a "produce sourcing" issue as part of the reason for the drop in earnings. E. coli, according to Hirsch's article, was conspicuously absent in Yum! Brands' earnings report.

Yum provided almost no financial details about the effect on Taco Bell except to say that sales were recovering from their December low.

Overall, Yum reported a profit of $232 million, or 83 cents a share, a 3% gain from $226 million, or 77 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 4% to $3 billion. Yum also owns the fast food chains Pizza Hut and KFC.

Before the earnings release, Yum shares rose 29 cents to $60.78. The price, near its 52-week high, was little changed in after-hours trading.

In a report Monday to investors, UBS analyst Palmer said he believed Taco Bell restaurants would bounce back to at least flat sales and might log "slightly positive" growth in April.

Yum also will collect an undetermined level of insurance payments to help offset profit lost because of the E. coli-related drop in sales, he said.

In an article for BusinessWeek.com, Bruce Schreiner wrote that Taco Bell and Yum!'s performance surprised financial analysts:

Larry Miller, a restaurant analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said the drop at the Mexican-style chain wasn't as severe as he had expected. "I think investors are going to be somewhat relieved with Taco Bell," he said in an interview. "It wasn't quite as bad as I think some of us thought it might be."

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SCNow.com recently interviewed Erica Sturkie, a Marler Clark client who became ill with an E. coli infection after eating contaminated spinach during the 2006 E. coli outbreak. The outbreak was traced back to spinach grown in the Salinas Valley.

“I worked out five to six days a week. I ran everyday -- ate really healthy. I love spinach, so I decided I would just go on an all salad diet. Then I got sick,” Erica Sturkie said.

She spent more than two weeks in the hospital as a result. Doctors told her she had E. coli, but it was never confirmed as the culprit. Her lawyers said that was because the antibiotic she was given to treat it probably killed the bacteria before tests could be completed.
 

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Seattle-based Marler Clark will be filing its third lawsuit on behalf of a victim of last year's E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to Taco John's restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota.

The lawsuit was filed against Taco John’s in Minnesota state court on behalf of Albert Lea resident Julie Johnson and her young son, Mitchell. Mitchell is one of at least 33 Minnesota residents who became ill with E. coli infections after eating contaminated food at Taco John’s restaurants.

On the heels of investigations into other large E. coli outbreaks traced to California produce, the FDA has announced that investigators from FDA and the state of California, working in conjunction with state health officials in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, had isolated the Taco John’s outbreak strain of E. coli from dairy farms near California’s Central Valley, where the contaminated spinach was grown, on January 12.

“It’s time for restaurants to demand more stringent safety standards on the part of their fresh produce suppliers,” said William Marler, attorney for Ms. Johnson. “Taco John’s and companies like Taco Bell need to use their purchasing power as an influence for industry change. This could become a classic economics lesson in supply and demand.”
 

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The Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has moved closer to identifying the source of illness for the Taco John E. coli outbreak.

FDA and the state of California, working in conjunction with state health officials in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, have DNA-matched the strain of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria associated with the outbreak with two environmental samples gathered from dairy farms near a lettuce growing area in California's Central Valley.

The outbreak sickened approximately 81 individuals in November and December of 2006. Illnesses were reported in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Twenty-six people were hospitalized, and two suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection that can cause permanent kidney damage and death. No deaths have been associated with the outbreak. No new cases of illness are being reported and the outbreak is now considered over.

Epidemiological studies by Minnesota and Iowa health officials had previously identified shredded iceberg lettuce served in the restaurants as the likely vehicle of transmission in the outbreak. FDA was able to focus on specific lettuce growing regions based on the traceback from records obtained from the lettuce processor. The recent DNA match provides a clue as to one possible source of the contamination for the lettuce, although others may exist. It has yet to be determined how the E. coli contaminated the lettuce. The traceback investigation is ongoing and will hopefully yield further insight into how this contamination occurred.
 

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QSR.com recently highlighted several E. coli outbreaks that happened at the end of 2006. The author, Fred Minnick, brought up the E. coli outbreaks due to the impact they had on quick-serve restaurants, such as Taco Bell and Taco John's.

"E. coli was another big headline maker in the QSR segment as Taco Bell and Taco John’s served food contaminated with the virus,” said QSR.com. “Both brands quickly responded to consumer and public concerns with targeted store closures and the temporary removal of green onions from its menu. Taco John’s even paid hospital bills for those inflicted with the illness. Despite their efforts, however, both brands are being sued.”
    
“This latest outbreak is proof that the food industry has not done enough to protect consumers from deadly pathogens like E. coli O157:H7,” said William Marler, a food safety advocate who has represented over a thousand victims of E. coli outbreaks. “It is time for Congress to step into the arena and call hearings to explore the causes of recent outbreaks and to help prevent future outbreaks from happening.”
 

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Another E. coli lawsuit has been filed against Taco Bell today by Marler Clark. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Michael Notar, a Clinton, New York, resident who became ill with an E. coli infection and was hospitalized for four days after eating E. coli-contaminated food at Taco Bell.

The filing coincides with Taco Bell’s announcement that Taco Bell President Greg Creed and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell will tour the Taco Bell restaurant located at Franklin Mills Circle in Philadelphia today.

“While Taco Bell is parading around with politicians, the victims of this outbreak continue to incur costs related to their illnesses,” said William Marler, attorney for Mr. Notar and managing partner of Marler Clark. “The least a multi-million dollar corporation like Taco Bell can do is make a good will gesture and pay my clients’ medical expenses.”

According to the complaint, Mr. Notar ate food from Taco Bell locations in Yorkville and Utica, New York, before becoming ill with symptoms of E. coli infection on December 5. His symptoms worsened, and he was hospitalized at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Hartford, New York, on December 6. Mr. Notar was released from the hospital four days later, but continues to suffer gastrointestinal discomfort as a result of his illness, and has scheduled several medical procedures in January to further treat the injuries he sustained while he was ill with E. coli.

“Corporate responsibility means stepping up to the plate and saying you’re sorry when you’ve done something wrong – like poison your customers – and then putting forth an effort to make things right,” Marler concluded.

Marler Clark has associated Underberg & Kessler, a respected Rochester law firm, on the case. The two firms have worked together in other New York litigation, including E. coli and Salmonella cases. Most recently, they were appointed by the New York Court of Claims to represent over 700 victims of cryptosporidiosis at the Seneca Lake State Park Spraypark during the summer of 2005. The case was recently designated a class action.
 

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The King of Prussia Courier reports that Taco Bell has reopened several restaurants that were implicated in the recent E. coli outbreak.

“Early on, Taco Bell came out and said they had a culture match of the E. coli on the green onions and pulled all the green onions out of their restaurants and then fired their supplier,' said Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who is representing victims of the outbreak in litigation against Taco Bell and its produce supplier.

 “It looked logical that it was the green onions, because why would Taco Bell do that? But apparently when the FDA came in, they found that the E. coli test was wrong,” he noted. “Their interviews with the victims indicated that lettuce was the most likely source of contamination.”

More than 70 cases of E. coli have also occurred recently at the Taco John chain of Mexican restaurants in the Midwest. "The Taco John outbreak in Iowa and Minnesota, at last count, had official numbers that are more than the Taco Bell outbreak," Marler said.
 

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A second lawsuit has been filed against Taco John's on behalf of a victim of the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that was traced to contaminated lettuce served at Taco John's restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Waterloo resident Karen Hibben-Levi. Ms. Hibben-Levi is represented by Seattle attorneys Marler-Clark, the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of foodborne illness, who filed its first E. coli lawsuit against Taco John’s on December 14.

A joint investigation by Iowa and Minnesota health officials indicated that E. coli-contaminated lettuce was the source of the Taco John’s E. coli outbreak, which ultimately resulted in 77 E. coli cases among customers who ate at Taco John’s locations between November 28 and December 6. On December 13, Taco John’s announced that the company had contracted with a new vendor to supply produce to its approximately 100 Midwest franchises.

“E. coli in lettuce has become almost a systemic problem for the fresh produce industry,” said William Marler, attorney for Ms. Hibben-Levi. “Given the recent history of lettuce E. coli outbreaks, I question Taco John’s’ decision to switch produce suppliers. At this point, the issue is at the farm level, not at the distribution level, and it seems that one supplier’s produce is not likely safer than the next.”

“Instead of looking at one restaurant or one supplier, it’s time we took a hard look at all aspects of lettuce production in this country – from farm to fork – and came up with some real solutions to prevent future outbreaks,” Marler continued. “It’s time for the federal legislature to take up this issue and bring all parties involved, including players from the fresh produce industry, university researchers, FDA, CDC, and consumers, to the table and hammer out real solutions to this recurring problem.”
 

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William Marler, a food safety advocate and attorney who is representing 10 victims of an E. coli outbreak at several Taco John's locations in Iowa and Minnesota, called today on Taco John's to pay the medical bills of all individuals who became ill with E. coli infections as part of the outbreak.

“We know that at least 26 people were hospitalized during this outbreak,” Marler said. “Some families are already facing bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. It’s only right that Taco John’s should step up and pay all victims’ medical bills.” 

Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations companies such as Dole, Jack in the Box, Odwalla, Chi-Chi’s and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products. “Other companies have shown their commitment to corporate responsibility and have put their customers first. It is my hope that Taco John’s will follow their lead,” Marler concluded.

Health officials have counted at least 77 people as being part of the outbreak, which was traced to Taco John’s restaurants in Iowa, and Minnesota. The Black Hawk County, Iowa, health department reported that at least 18 people had been hospitalized with E. coli infections after eating at Iowa Taco John’s restaurants, and Minnesota health officials reported 8 hospitalizations. At least two people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli infection that can cause kidney failure and central nervous system impairment and requires extended hospitalization and medical treatment.
 

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Bix Produce, the company that the Minnesota Department of Health has identified as the supplier of E. coli-contaminated lettuce to Taco John's restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa, announced that it will implement new measures to ensure produce safety.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that Bix is hiring a longtime crisis management spokesman and trying to prevent further loss of sales.

The changes came a day after the produce processing company was dropped by Taco John's as its supplier of shredded lettuce. Minnesota health officials have linked the E. coli cases to shredded lettuce supplied by Bix. The E. coli-contaminated lettuce has sickened more than 20 people in Taco John's restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa.
 

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An E. coli lawsuit was filed against Taco John's in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ryan and Angela Saul, a Cedar Falls couple whose nine-year-old daughter, Autumn, is hospitalized at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. The Sauls are represented by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented hundreds of victims of E. coli outbreaks, including 93 victims of this fall’s outbreak traced to contaminated spinach, and dozens of victims of the recent E. coli outbreak traced to Taco Bell. 

According to the complaint, Autumn Saul ate two soft shell tacos purchased from the University Avenue Taco John’s restaurant in Cedar Falls on November 29, and became ill with symptoms of an E. coli infection on December 2. Autumn’s symptoms worsened, and she was admitted to the hospital after an emergency room visit on December 7. She was subsequently transferred to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, where she remains hospitalized and is being monitored for complications of E. coli infection, including hemolytic uremic syndrome.

The Black Hawk County Health Department has confirmed 33 people as being ill with E. coli infections after eating at the Cedar Falls Taco John’s location, including 14 people who were hospitalized, and the Minnesota Department of Health has reported related illnesses among patrons of the Albert Lea and Austin, Minnesota, Taco John’s locations.
 

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The FDA and CDC E. coli outbreak investigation into illnesses at Taco Bell restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware took a turn this week, when health officials determined that green onions were not the source of the outbreak.

Investigators from the CDC and FDA announced that the likely source of the outbreak is E. coli-contaminated lettuce.

The New York Post reported an increase in the number of victims from the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak. While the outbreak continues, Taco Bell stores that had been closed due to the E. coli outbreak have reopened. Taco Bell has written an open letter stating that food in Taco Bell stores is safe.
 

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An E. coli outbreak that had been traced to a Taco John's restaurant in Cedar Falls, Iowa, has also been potentially linked to an outbreak in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Minnesota officials announced that they were investigating an apparent outbreak of E. coli infections tied to a Taco John's restaurant in Albert Lea, which is just north of Iowa.

18 people in Black Hawk County have been hospitalized this month after eating at a local Taco John's restaurant.

Approximately 100 Taco John's franchises in the Midwest will be using a new produce vendor starting as soon as today as an extreme precautionary response to reports of potential E. coli contamination at three of the franchise locations, one in Iowa and two in Minnesota, that used a common vendor. The remainder of the Taco John's system utilizes other produce vendors.
 

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The Seattle law firm Marler Clark filed its second lawsuit in the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak. The lawsuit named Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell and Ready Pac Produce Inc., the company that packaged and distributed fresh produce to Taco Bell restaurants.

According to the suit, Jared Keller, a Utica, New York, resident, became ill with symptoms of an E. coli O157:H7 infection two days after eating at the North Genesee Street Taco Bell location in Utica. Mr. Keller’s symptoms worsened over the course of the next few days, and he was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital.

Seattle attorney William Marler has proposed congressional hearings focused on the following:
 

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An E. coli lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Stephen Minnis, a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, resident who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection after eating food from the Taco Bell restaurant located on East Philadelphia Avenue in Gilbertsville.

The lawsuit was filed against Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm with a national reputation for the successful representation of E. coli victims.

Taco Bell has a connection to prior foodborne illness outbreaks. In 1999, At least ten San Francisco Bay-area people became ill with E. coli infections after eating at Taco Bell.  In 2000, dozens of people became ill with Hepatitis A, after eating contaminated green onions at Taco Bell locations in Florida, Kentucky, and Nevada.
 

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Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., recently participated in a panel before the US Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Brackett, who is the director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, pointed out that ready-to-eat fresh vegetables, fruits, and prepared salads have a high potential risk of contamination because they are generally grown in a natural environment and are often consumed without cooking or other treatments that could eliminate pathogens if they are present.

He went on to explain FDA's role in food safety, discuss FDA’s response to the recent E. coli outbreak and the ongoing investigation, describe some of the specific efforts that FDA is taking to enhance the safety of fresh produce to prevent future outbreaks, and reviewed some of the next steps that FDA plans to take to work with food safety partners to improve the safety of ready-to-eat foods.

Among the steps Brackett outlined were:

• The development of a plan to minimize the risk of another outbreak in all leafy greens, including lettuce.
• An examination of whether improvements in the following four areas could help prevent or contain future outbreaks: 1) strategies to prevent contamination; 2) ways to minimize the health impact after an occurrence; 3) ways to improve communication; and 4) specific research.
• Putting on a series of meetings with industry groups to discuss ways to improve the safety of fresh produce.
• Consideration of whether additional guidance and/or additional regulations for the produce industry are necessary.
• Increasing research on analytical technologies that enable faster detection of foodborne pathogens and better intervention strategies.
• Studying possible intervention strategies, such as use of thermal treatment and irradiation, which could be applied to fresh produce products to reduce the level of bacteria and viruses that are in or on the product.
• Working with universities, industry, and state governments to develop both risk-based microbiological research programs and technology transfer programs to ensure that the latest food technology reaches the appropriate end users along the supply chain.

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Marler Clark client Chenelle Reyes was interviewed by KIRO 7 news in Seattle. Ms. Reyes and Bill Marler both discussed the E. coli outbreak traced to spinach with Graham Johnson:

"I literally felt I was dying," Reyes said. "I was in a lot of pain."

Federal investigators confirm the outbreak killed three people and made 204 sick. Investigators have traced the source of the outbreak to cow manure on a ranch near Natural Selection foods. They think wild pigs might have carried E. coli to the spinach fields.
 

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A lawsuit has been filed by Seattle lawfirm Marler Clark on behalf of the family of Ruby Trautz, an elderly woman who died after eating E. coli-contaminated spinach.

The estate is suing Dole Food Co. of Westlake Village, Calif.; Natural Selections Foods of San Juan Bautista, Calif.; No Frills Supermarkets of Omaha; and the undisclosed California farm where the spinach was grown, according to the Bellevue News-Leader.

According to the lawsuit, Trautz ate Dole brand baby spinach, which Nebraska public health officials linked to a national E. coli outbreak that sickened 204 people and caused three deaths. Natural Selections Foods bagged the spinach.

Bill Marler, the attorney representing the Costello family and 93 other people who were sickened as part of the outbreak, posted about today's announcement that one of four farms who supplied Natural Selections Foods and Earthbound Farms with spinach had been identified on his blog.
 

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A lawsuit was filed today on behalf of the estate of Ruby Trautz, an 81-year-old Nebraska resident who died on August 31, 2006, after suffering complications of an E. coli O157:H7 infection traced to contaminated spinach.

The lawsuit was filed by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm with a national reputation for the successful representation of victims of foodborne illnesses, and Berry & Kelly, a respected Lincoln, Nebraska, law firm. “John Doe Farms” is named as a defendant, along with Dole Food Company, Natural Selections Foods, and No Frills Supermarkets.

“FDA owes it to the American public, and to the victims of this outbreak in particular, to release information as to the identity of the spinach farm. This far into the outbreak investigation, FDA should already have named the farm where the spinach came from,” said attorney Bill Marler. “We included John Doe Farms as a defendant to try to get more answers for our clients.”

This latest lawsuit is the eighth filed by Marler Clark on behalf of victims of the spinach E. coli outbreak. The firm has filed lawsuits on behalf of residents of Maryland, Wisconsin, Oregon, Michigan, Utah, and New York, but this is the first time the firm has named the retail outlet where the victims purchased the spinach and the farm where the spinach was grown.
 

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HometownAnnapolis.com reports that Maryland health officials have confirmed two more E. coli O157:H7 cases as having the same genetic fingerprint as the strain of E. coli linked to the spinach outbreak.

Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's announcement also addressed the death of June Dunning, an elderly woman from Haggerstown. Seattle law firm Marler-Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Dunning family.

Neither child in the most recent cases was hospitalized, said health department spokesman John Hammond.
 

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The Baltimore Channel is reporting that Maryland has confirmed the state's fifth E. coli O157:H7 illness traced to contaminated spinach.

John Hammond, a spokesman for the state health department, said two more suspected Maryland cases are pending, including that of an elderly resident who died.

The state agency hasn't identified that person, but family members sait it was June E. Dunning, 86, of Hagerstown, who died Sept. 13 of an E. coli complication.

Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Mrs. Dunning last week. The lawsuit was filed against Dole and Natural Selections.
 

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NPR recently interviewed Ken Costello, a Nebraska man who became ill with E. coli after eating contaminated spinach, and whose mother-in-law died after also becoming ill with a spinach-linked E. coli infection.

The hospital had not tested her for E. coli as part of their routine testing. Costello had to seek independent testing on the spinach that had made both him and his mother-in-law ill, and later killed her.

Spinach, tainted by E. coli bacteria, has reportedly made about 200 people in two dozen states sick. At least three people are said to have died from the outbreak.

The radio station also interviewed Seattle attorney William Marler, who is representing Ken and more than 90 other individuals who became ill after eating contaminated spinach, who stressed that addressing irrigation issues may go towards helping to alleviate the problem.

Lawmakers and advocates are demanding federal authorities do more to eliminate the contamination.
 

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Marler Clark filed a lawsuit today on behalf of the estate of June Dunning, a Haggerstown, Maryland, resident who was part of a nationawide E. coli outbreak traced to contaminated spinach.  Ms. Dunning suffered an intense E. coli O157:H7 infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome before passing away on September 15, 2006. 

The lawsuit filing coincides with a California Department of Health and Food and Drug Administration announcement that today test results from the E. coli investigation confirmed that the same genetic fingerprint of the E. coli bacteria isolated from bags of spinach was found in samples of cattle feces from a ranch near the spinach fields implicated in the outbreak:

"This is a significant finding because it is the first time we linked a spinach or lettuce E.coli O157:H7 outbreak to test results from a specific ranch in the Salinas Valley," said State Public Health Officer Dr. Mark Horton.  "Our follow-up investigation on this ranch is continuing today with the ongoing assessment of animal management, water systems and agricultural practices to clarify how the bacterial contamination of the spinach occurred."

The trace-back investigation was narrowed from nine implicated ranches to four ranches.  The outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 from cattle feces was identified on one of these four ranches.  At this time, testing of other environmental samples from all four ranches that supplied the implicated lot of contaminated spinach is in progress.  The positive test result is a significant finding, but is just one aspect of this investigation.  The next step in the investigation is determining how the E. coli pathogen contaminated the spinach.  These implicated fields on these four ranches located in Monterey and San Benito counties are not being used to grow any ready-to-eat produce.

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Seattle attorney William Marler is representing Jeffrey Merkey of Lindon, who filed a lawsuit last week after he claimed his son got extremely sick when he was fed spinach.

As a result, Merkey's son spent several weeks in intensive care at Primary Children's Medical Center for severe kidney damage as a result of contracting E. coli-based hemolytic uremic syndrome.

KUTV reports that Marler has a history working on E. coli lawsuits. In 1993, he was lead attorney against "Jack in the Box" for an E. coli outbreak. He has also filed several lawsuits against Natural Selections foods in the recent spinach controversy.
 

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Westlake Village, Calif.-based food giant Dole Food Co. Inc. has been named as a defendant, along with Natural Selection Foods, in five cases filed by people who contracted an E. coli infection allegedly after eating the companies' bagged spinach.

The latest outbreak, which began last month, has killed one person and sickened 183 in 26 states. Of the 95 people hospitalized, 29 have a kidney failure condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Dole settled more than four cases earlier this year, reports the National Law Journal,  brought by people who also became ill with E. coli infections in an outbreak last year tied to the company's bagged lettuce.

Dole settled four lettuce cases, three in Minnesota and one in Oregon, in May and June, without disclosing the terms of the resolutions and binding the parties to confidentiality agreements.
 

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The FBI searched two produce companies Wednesday for evidence of a crime in the nationwide E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened at least 192 others.

Agents from the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration used warrants to search a Natural Selection Foods LLC plant in San Juan Bautista and a Growers Express plant in Salinas to determine whether they followed food safety procedures, according to the Associated Press.

Natural Selection, which packages spinach sold under 34 brand names and supplies spinach to other food processors, was implicated in the E. coli outbreak after 11 bags of Dole brand baby spinach tested positive for the same bacteria strain found in people who fell ill after eating the leafy greens.

Growers Express grows and packs produce, including Farm Day packaged spinach. Until Wednesday, the company had not been named in the investigation of how the tainted spinach ended up in bags and on store shelves.

Federal officials do not think anyone at the plants deliberately contaminated spinach with the virulent bacteria and said the searches do not mean there is an ongoing or new threat to public health.

Companies can be convicted if they are shown to have been negligent in preventing tainted foods from entering the market, even if they were unaware of the contamination.
 

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A southeastern Michigan woman who says she became violently ill and was hospitalized after eating E. coli-tainted packaged spinach is suing retailer Meijer Inc. and supplier Dole Food Co. Inc.

Susan Kaminske’s lawsuit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit by attorney Michael Heilman and seeks damages of more than $25,000 according to the Associated Press.



At least 189 people nationwide have become sick after eating spinach tainted by the same virulent strain of E. coli bacteria. The federal investigation to find the source is focused on Natural Selection Foods LLC, which packaged spinach for Dole and dozens of other brands.
 

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The Monroe County resident sickened by eating E. coli-tainted spinach is suing companies in California and Delaware for an illness that required a trip to the hospital.

It was reported in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that Rochester lawyer Paul Nunes filed a complaint in U.S. District Court late Tuesday afternoon on behalf of his client, Patricia Ann McCoy of Pittsford, who alleges she contracted a severe gastrointestinal illness after eating a bag of Dole brand baby spinach she bought from Martin's Super Food Store in Perinton on or about August 21st, 2006.

McCoy ate a number of spinach salads in late August, and on August 31st began experiencing abdominal cramps and diarrhea. McCoy alleges her symptoms worsened to bloody diarrhea and on September 3rd she went to Highland Hospital, where she received intravenous fluids and had diagnostic tests done. She left the hospital later that evening.

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KUTV of Salt Lake City is reporting that an Idaho toddler has died in a Utah hospital from a kidney disease associated with E. coli infection. The infection may be linked to the national outbreak traced to contaminated packaged spinach, health officials said.

Kyle Algood, 2, of Chubbuck, Idaho, died Wednesday at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City from hemolytic-uremic syndrome, said Dr. Christine Hahn, said epidemiologist for the Idaho Department of Health. The boy was flown to the Utah hospital earlier in the day from Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho.
 

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Underberg and Kessler, a western New York law firm, has been hired to represent people who got sick after eating spinach contaminated with the E. coli bacteria. They are the same firm that represented more than 700 people who got sick last summer from the cryptosporidium parasite after a visit to the Sprayground at Seneca Lake State Park.

Lawyer Paul Nunes says Underberg and Kessler has been retained by Marler Clark of Seattle in the E. coli outbreak. The two firms also worked together on the sprayground case and they represented victims of several large-scale salmonella outbreaks in central New York.

Marler Clark is suing growers and produce companies on behalf of people in Wisconsin, Oregon and Utah who got E. Coli infections after eating bagged fresh spinach. Underberg and Kessler plans to do the same on behalf of New Yorkers who claim injuries from the outbreak.

The New York State Health Department has confirmed seven E. coli cases as part of the current outbreak. Four are in Erie County plus one case each in Schoharie, Schenectady and Chemung Counties. State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello says anyone who has fresh spinach in their fridge should toss it. She says washing won't make it safe.

Usually E. coli causes diarrhea and cramps, but in some cases it can lead to kidney failure and death due to the complication hemolytic uremic syndrome.
 

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A Seattle attorney and advocate for change in the produce industry says, though convenient, maybe bagged produce isn't such a good idea after all, reports Ed Yeates. As the probe continues into E. coli contaminated spinach that's now sickened people in 21 states, Bill Marler says it may be just one more example of a systemic problem that's been plaguing the industry for the past four years.

"I think you have to step back and go, ‘well, maybe convenience and money aren't worth it’,” Marler says.

Yeates says, “Look at other incidents over the past few years. The nasty strain shows up in produce in three states, sickening 23 people. Fifty kids at a Mormon dance camp in Spokane get hit. Fourteen people at an old folks home in San Francisco are infected. Two die. In northern Utah, two women remain on dialysis. And these are just reported cases.”

Bill Marler responds, "There has never been a smoking gun. They've never found the farm or the cow. They've never been able to do that, and that's been frustrating for both the FDA and the industry." Bill Marler is in Salt Lake, representing people here considering lawsuits. He's also formed a non-profit group that, in his words, teaches the industry how not to poison people.

Unlike a single head of lettuce or one bundle of spinach, bagged varieties, he claims, pose a unique problem. "When you're eating a bag, you may be eating parts of ten, twenty, thirty, forty bunches,” says Marler.  “You have a couple of pieces of bad heads of lettuce or bad bunches of spinach and it gets massively processed in a big facility that gets spread out among hundreds if not thousands of bags."

Consumers like bagged produce because it's often more convenient and economical, but Marler says perhaps we've reached a point where all of us need to strike a new balance between what is convenient and what is risk.
 

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Federal health officials were uncertain as to whether the bacterial strain that contaminated spinach and infected people coast to coast is unusually virulent, but more than half the reported cases have required hospitalization.

A key unanswered question is whether the strain of E. coli O157:H7 is particularly virulent, reports Newsday writer Delthia Ricks. At this point all data would point in that direction given that 66 people, slightly more than half of the 131 confirmed cases were hospitalized, Acheson said. In a typical outbreak involving E. coli O157:H7, he said, health experts would expect 20 percent to 25 percent of people to be hospitalized. Hospitalizations occur because patients develope hemolytic uremic syndrome, the potentially fatal kidney disorder caused by the bacteria's toxin.

Dr. Ken Lee, director of the Center for Food Safety at Ohio State University, said in an interview Tuesday that "no one should risk dying from eating spinach." Among microbial culprits that routinely attack foods, he said, "E. coli is not the biggest killer in terms of body counts." But it is particularly insidious because it can cause bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome, he added. "We need to do a better job of cleaning up food."

Health investigators are examining practices on nine farms, but the probe could expand. Product recalls could involve other companies, but federal health officials hope spinach growers outside of California will soon be able to market their products.
 

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G&G Restaurant Corp, owner of Hamilton's Restaurant in Glenview, Illinois, filed what could be the first in a bumper crop of class-action lawsuits on Monday.

Class-action suits allow numerous plaintiffs with relatively small claims to band together to seek redress.

Unlike other actions filed in the latest outbreak, the lawsuit does not allege physical harm but seeks only compensation for money spent on spinach that had to be discarded.

The suit's defendant is Natural Selection Foods, a San Juan Bautista, California-based company that sells prepackaged spinach under the Earthbound Farm brand. Federal authorities have identified Natural Selection as a possible source of the E. coli outbreak.

In G&G’s case, the amount sought is $40. But with a class-action lawsuit, the total amount for Natural Selection may be significantly larger, depending on how many consumers, restaurants, and retail operations seek reimbursement for purchases.
 

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Shaila Leafty and her young son have joined what is expected to be a growing number of people who are suing a California spinach producer blamed for a national E. coli outbreak. Her son Brayden's illness is just one of an estimated 15 E. coli cases reported in Utah since the spinach-related outbreak was discovered.

While state and federal officials have traced the current outbreak to Salinas, California-based Natural Selection Foods’ fresh spinach, they haven't pinpointed the sources of the bacteria.

"As the grower and producer, Natural Selection Foods should have been consumers' first line of defense against E. coli entering the food supply," says attorney Bill Marler. "Instead, this company allowed contaminated produce to enter the marketplace and caused one of the largest fresh-produce-related outbreaks in recent history."

Marler is also representing the parents of two Wisconsin children who were also believed to have been sickened by contaminated spinach. According to the Wisconsin lawsuit, both children came down with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially deadly condition associated with E. coli infections. As of last Sunday, the daughter remained hospitalized.

An Oregon woman has also sued. According to her lawsuit, she ate spinach for lunch several times during the week of Aug. 21. She reports she was hospitalized at Salem Hospital for six days and required at least four blood transfusions and other medical procedures.

In all of the federal lawsuits, the plaintiffs have asked for unspecified damages, including compensation for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses, travel expenses, emotional distress and attorney fees.
 

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Marler Clark has retained the Buffalo-Rochester based law firm Underberg & Kessler to assist  with litigation resulting from the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to bagged spinach. Marler Clark has filed lawsuits on behalf of Wisconsin, Oregon, and Utah residents, and is currently investigating claims on behalf of New York residents who have contacted the firm in regards to potential legal claims stemming from the outbreak.

Nationally, the outbreak has already caused one death and made over 100 people ill. Two victims in the Buffalo area developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection that can lead to kidney failure, central nervous system impairment, and death. The New York Department of Health has reported confirmed E. coli cases in Schoharie, Schenectady and Chemung counties as being part of the outbreak. 

This appears to be one of the more significant outbreaks of the dreaded E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in fresh produce that has occurred in the US. Because fresh bagged spinach is often eaten without being cooked, the risk of infection is especially high.

The FDA and the fresh produce industry have been working on the issue of E. coli contamination for a number of years. It is unfortunate that efforts so far have not produced solutions that could have prevented this outbreak from happening in the first place.

Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler have worked together in other New York litigation, including E. coli and Salmonella cases. Most recently, they were appointed by the New York Court of Claims to represent over 700 victims of cryptosporidiosis at the Seneca Lake State Park Spraypark during the summer of 2005. The case was recently designated a class action.

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A Cambridge family is asking health officials whether their 23-month-old who died from E. coli got the bacteria from tainted spinach that's blamed for sickening more than 100 people nationwide.

Olivia Perkins became sick in early August with stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea, Harris said. After trips to local doctors, she was brought to Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

She died Aug. 22 of kidney failure and a brain hemorrhage brought on by the bacteria, said David Sloat, Olivia’s grandfather. Sloat, a pediatric nurse, said DNA testing would show whether the e-coli strain is the same seen in the spinach.

After Olivia became ill, her sister and two cousins came down with symptoms and were found to have E. coli.
 

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Nebraska health officials have confirmed the state's first case of E. coli linked to spinach.

Nebraska will also be reinvestigating 17 other known cases of E. coli that have occurred in the state since August. In each of those cases, local health authorities will ask people whether they had eaten fresh, store-bought spinach within 10 days before becoming ill. The state also will reanalyze specimens taken at the time of those illnesses.

Nebraska's confirmed case brings to 20 the number of states where the particular strain of E. coli has been verified. On Saturday, the CDC released a report saying that the illness has been confirmed in 102 people in 19 states, with the worst outbreak occurring in Wisconsin. Nationwide, more than half of those who became ill have required hospitalization, and 16 percent have suffered kidney failure. One death has been confirmed.

Nebraska typically records 50 to 75 instances of E. coli annually. In most instances, no connection between the cases is found.
 

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On Monday, Marler Clark will file another lawsuit on behalf of a victim of the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to contaminated spinach. The lawsuit will be filed against Natural Selection Foods, LLC and National Selection Foods Manufacturing, LLC in federal court in Utah on behalf of Murray, Utah resident Sheila Leafty and her young son, Brayden. Brayden is one of at least 14 Utah residents who have become ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating contaminated spinach produced by Natural Selection Foods. 

Marler Clark also added both Natural Selection companies to two lawsuits that the firm filed last week in federal court in Oregon and Wisconsin against Dole Food Company. Health officials in those states have reported that at least 19 residents (5 in Oregon and 14 in Wisconsin) were confirmed to be part of the outbreak. On Sunday, the Food and Drug Administration reported that 109 individuals in 19 states, sixteen of whom have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (see www.about-hus.com), have been confirmed as being part of the outbreak. One Wisconsin resident died after suffering complications of E. coli infection.

As the grower and producer, Natural Selections Foods should have been consumers’ first line of defense against E. coli entering the food supply. Instead, this company allowed contaminated produce to enter the marketplace and caused one of the largest fresh produce-related outbreaks in recent history.

Continue Reading...

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control activated a "war room" of health experts at its Atlanta headquarters Saturday to deal with a nationwide outbreak of the E.coli bacteria on leafy fresh spinach that has killed at least one person, sickened more than 100 and caused restaurants and groceries across the nation to pull the vegetable from shelves and menu choices, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Fresh spinach products from Natural Selection Foods / Earthbound Farm in San Juan Bautista, Calif., have been linked to a widespread outbreak of illness from E. coli bacteria.

The outbreak has hit 19 states, with 102 cases, of which 52 were hospitalized, and 16 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. Children with HUS have a higher death rate than adults, about 5 percent. It's likely that more than 200 people have been sickened nationwide.

Natural Selection is known for its Earthbound Farm brand, which claims to have pioneered the retail market in pre-washed, bagged salads in 1986. It says its spinach and other products are in 74 percent of U.S. grocery stores. Other companies' products could be implicated, the FDA said.
 

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Farm/Natural Selection Foods plant in San Juan Bautista has been linked to a nationwide E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others.

The E. coli outbreak is the sixth outbreak blamed on the nation's fresh produce in five years, despite ever-tightening efforts to keep spinach and lettuce clean.

It was still unclear Saturday whether the outbreak concerned organically or conventionally farmed spinach, said Samantha Cabaluna, spokeswoman for Natural Selection Foods. The company produces both varieties in separate sections of its San Juan Bautista processing facility. For some labels like Dole, Natural Selection produces both organic and conventionally grown spinach, but for others like Trader Joe's, the company packs only its organic variety while another producer packs the conventional kind.

Farmers say that unless the U.S. Food and Drug Administration retracts its warning against eating fresh packaged spinach their produce was worthless.The company, which processes spinach under many different brand names, including Earthbound Farms, began a voluntary recall Friday of all of its packaged spinach.
 

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With their 6-year-old son already hospitalized with E. coli-related complications, a Brookfield couple wonders if their 3-year-old daughter might also be among those sickened in a nationwide outbreak of the bacteria linked to tainted spinach.

Anne Grintjes said that her daughter is now complaining of stomach cramps, a symptom her son had before being hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome. The syndrome is a potentially fatal E. coli complication that can lead to serious kidney damage.

On Friday, California-based Natural Selection Foods voluntarily recalled its pre-packaged spinach and salad mixes containing spinach. Federal officials said that although they have not isolated any E. coli bacteria from spinach packed by the company, many patients have reported eating the company's products.

Bill Marler of the Seattle-based law firm Marler Clark said that his firm will update suits filed against Dole Food Co. in Wisconsin and Oregon to include Natural Selection Foods.

Among Marler's clients are Anna and Paul Zientek, a Milwaukee couple whose 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter developed E. coli-related syndrome after eating salads made from a package of Dole baby spinach they purchased on Aug. 25. Although the 6-year-old boy was released from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa on Thursday, his sister remains hospitalized.
 

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Gwyn Wellborn of Salem is recovering from a brush with death from E. coli poisoning that was traced to a bag of Dole baby spinach she bought Aug. 21 at WinCo Foods.

The 27-year-old wife and mother developed a rare complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, a disease that affects the kidneys and the blood-clotting system. Doctors at Salem Hospital didn’t expect her to survive, but several blood transfusions and plasma exchanges later, Wellborn pulled through.

About the same time the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers about a nationwide outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 stemming from bagged fresh spinach, the law firm Marler Clark filed a personal-injury action suit against Dole Food Co. on behalf of the Wellborns.

The Seattle firm has represented thousands of victims of food poisoning, including some of the people sickened a year ago in a similar outbreak traced to bags of Dole lettuce, attorney Bill Marler said. Marler told the Statesman Journal he has tried and settled $250 million in E. coli poisoning cases during the past 13 years.

The Wellborns are suing Dole for damages including general pain and suffering and medical-related expenses. No monetary amount is listed in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Portland.
 

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The Oregon Public Health Division of the Department of Human Services recommends anyone who has purchased a pre-packaged bag of spinach should "not consume it raw for the next few days," reports the Statesman Journal. The announcement comes in the wake of a nationwide breakout of E. coli O157:H7, including one confirmed case in Salem.

Five case are confirmed in Oregon, including Salem resident Gwyn Wellborn. Wellborn, 27, developed HUS, a form of kidney failure, and was hospitalized for several days in intensive care at Salem Hospital and then Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. She now is at home recovering.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is issuing an alert to consumers about the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in multiple states, including Oregon and Wisconsin.

Epidemiologists in those two states have traced the illness to packaged, washed spinach, although so far they have been unable to identify whether the contamination is confined to a single brand.
 

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Utah is one of eight states experiencing unusually high numbers of E. coli cases, and at least some of the outbreaks appear to be linked to "pre-washed" spinach, according to state health officials and the Food and Drug Administration. Statewide, 10 cases are being investigated so far.

The investigation indicates at least some of the E. coli cases appear to be strongly associated with ready-to-eat packaged spinach. The link is strong enough that FDA officials first said people should cook bagged spinach thoroughly, but later changed their warning to telling consumers not to eat it at all "at this time."

E. coli outbreaks that may be linked to the prepackaged spinach are in Utah, Oregon, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Michigan, Idaho, Indiana and Connecticut.

To avoid E. coli, the FDA said that all bagged spinach must at the very least be thoroughly cooked. The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that, of 225 food-poisoning outbreaks from 1990 to 1998, nearly 20 percent were linked to fresh fruits, vegetables or salads.
 

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The first fatality in a nationwide outbreak of E. coli linked to bagged spinach that has sickened at least 50 people has been reported in Wisconsin. There have been 11 confirmed cases of E. coli in Milwaukee County, but only four have been linked to the national outbreak of E. coli O157:H7.

Among the Wisconsin cases, 12 people remain in the hospital. Four of those have been diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can lead to serious kidney damage and death.

Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. said it is voluntarily removing all prepackaged fresh spinach and packaged salads containing fresh spinach. The recall will affect all Roundy's stores, including Pick 'n Save, Copps and Metro Market in Wisconsin and Rainbow in Minnesota, even though Minnesota has not reported any outbreak-related illnesses.

Bill Marler of the Seattle-based law firm Marler Clark said he is representing four cases of victims of the latest outbreak, including a Milwaukee family whose two children were hospitalized with the syndrome. In that case, a 6-year-old boy was released from the hospital Thursday. His sister remains hospitalized.
 

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An E. coli lawsuit was filed against Dole late Thursday in United States District Court for the District of Oregon.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Gwyn Wellborn, a Salem, Oregon woman who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection after eating Dole brand baby spinach.  Ms. Wellborn and her husband, David, are represented by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented hundreds of victims E. coli outbreaks, including victims of last fall’s E. coli outbreak traced to Dole brand lettuce.

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Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has successfully represented hundreds of E. coli victims, have filed a lawsuit on behalf of Weber County residents William and J. Corey Cohron and their two young sons against Wendy's.

The complaint, which was filed in Weber County Superior Court, seeks compensation for the family’s significant medical-related expenses, economic losses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.

The Wendy’s, at 2594 N. 400 East in North Ogden, served lettuce at a CORE Academy luncheon held at Orion Junior High in Harrisville on June 30, where more than 300 people were potentially exposed to the contamination. At least one person was infected during June 27-30 while eating at the restaurant.

The restaurant was traced as the source of an E. coli O121:H19 outbreak in late June, 2006. On August 7, 2006, the Weber-Morgan Health Department announced that at least four individuals had contracted E. coli O121:H19 after eating iceberg lettuce prepared at the Wendy’s restaurant.

The WMHD suspects that the lettuce was cross-contaminated with another food source, and that the lettuce itself was not contaminated. WMHD stated that three of the four people confirmed with E. coli O121:H19 had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.
 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 1999 that 73,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7 occur each year in the United States. Approximately 2,000 people are hospitalized, and 60 people die as a direct result of E. coli O157:H7 infections and complications. The majority of infections are thought to be foodborne-related, although E. coli O157:H7 accounts for less than 1% of all foodborne illness.

Marler Clark has been involved in litigation stemming from the largest E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks across the country since 1993.  Some of those cases include lawsuits against the following:

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A lawsuit was filed today against the Wendy's restaurant chain whose North Ogden, Utah, restaurant was traced as the source of an E. coli O121:H19 outbreak in late June.

Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has successfully represented hundreds of E. coli victims, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Weber County residents William and J. Corey Cohron and their two young sons.

The complaint seeks compensation for the family's significant medical-related expenses, economic losses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.

Corey Cohron consumed a Wendy's salad while in attendance at a CORE Academy conference held at Orion Junior High School in Harrisville, Utah. In the following days, Corey became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection, including diarrhea.

The remaining members of the Cohron family subsequently fell ill with diarrhea. Seven-year-old Wil Cohron suffered a particularly severe secondary E. coli infection. Wil was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome and was admitted to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

The Weber-Morgan Health Department suspects that the lettuce was cross-contaminated with another food source. WMHD stated that two additional people who had eaten food containing lettuce from the Wendy’s restaurant were confirmed to have E. coli, and had developed HUS.

"Wendy's should have been aware of the dangers of cross-contamination leading to outbreaks since cross-contaminated lettuce was the source of an E. coli outbreak at two Oregon Wendy's restaurants in 2000," said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. Marler represented the families of several children who were part of the 2000 Wendy's outbreak and subsequently developed HUS and acute kidney failure. "Wendy's is in the business of selling food -- that food should be safe for human consumption."
 

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The Manchester Health Department found E. coli bacteria in ground beef that a family says they purchased at the Stop & Shop supermarket at 777 South Willow St.

The ground beef nearly killed the son of John and Christina Tsirovakas, who have filed a lawsuit against the grocery store chain. In response, Stop & Shop officials have said they do not believe the family's meat was contaminated at the store.

The ground beef, which had been kept in a freezer by the Tsirovakas family until being turned over to the state, tested posititve for E. coli.

Tim Soucy, director of environmental health with the city Health Department, said inspectors found two critical violations at Stop & Shop in responding on Sept. 21 to the family's claims.

One violation describes an employee grinding meat and then leaving the area without changing cloth gloves and washing hands as required. A dolley parked in front of the grind room's hand sink was cited as another violation.
 

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A lawsuit was filed Thursday against Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop, on behalf of an eight-year-old boy who became ill with a severe E. coli O157:H7 infection after eating ground beef purchased at a Manchester, New Hampshire, Stop & Shop.

The complaint seeks compensation for the family's significant medical-related expenses, economic losses, and for Eric's pain and suffering.

Eric consumed a hamburger made from ground beef purchased at Stop & Shop at a family barbecue. He subsequently became ill with an E. coli infection, experiencing painful abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Twenty-four hours after being admitted to Concord Hospital, he was transferred by ambulance to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Eric developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection, and spent 22 days in a pediatric intensive care unit at DHMC, undergoing several surgical procedures and eight rounds of kidney dialysis treatments after his kidneys shut down.

Eric's medical bills to date total over $100,000.
 

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Anita and Michael Puckett, owners of Dee Creek Farm, the dairy that caused an E. coli outbreak last winter are appealing an $8,000 state fine, still asserting they didn't need a license for their raw milk program.

The state investigated the dairy after E. coli -infected milk sickened 18 people in December. Five children were hospitalized, including two who were on life-support before recovering.

Raw, or unpasteurized, milk can be sold legally in Washington, but only with a state license and regular inspections. According to state officials, the Pucketts' farm had numerous health and hygiene violations and could not have come close to passing an inspection. In additon, the Pucketts never had the required license and also did not test their cows for tuberculosis or brucellosis. Also, they brought a cow from Oregon without required veterinary tests.

The Pucketts, though, claim their practice of selling "shares" of their cows and then giving the "co-owners" milk isn't technically selling. The state didn't agree, notifying the Pucketts in August that they were breaking the law because any exchange of money for milk constitutes a sale.

The state expects the hearing will be sometime this summer. The farm remains under a cease-and-desist order from the Cowlitz County Health Officer and also faces the threat of civil lawsuits by former customers.
 

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In September and early October, at least 17 people became sick in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area after eating three kinds of Dole bagged lettuce that were contaminated with E. coli, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Five lawsuits filed in response to the outbreak have been settled, according to The Monterey Herald.

All of the people were infected with E. coli 0157:H7, the most dangerous strain of the bacteria, which can cause stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. In the most serious cases, the bacteria can lead to a serious complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure and death.

Although they have settled the lawsuits, president of Dole Fresh Vegetables Eric Schwartz says that the company is not admitting any guilt. They claim to not have a definitive source of the contamination of the lettuce.

Because the bagged salads were distributed nationwide, the Food and Drug Administration issued an alert to consumers against eating the specific Dole products.

A new comprehensive best-practices guide was released in March for growers, processors, retailers and everyone in between who handles fresh-cut produce to the development of a research agenda to provide functional, actionable information.
 

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According to the Associated Press, the lawsuits stemming from the E. coli outbreak that was traced to bags of Dole prepackaged lettuce have been settled.

Last fall, the state Department of Health said there were 17 confirmed cases of E. coli and eight hospitalizations. Laboratory tests confirmed E. coli bacteria was found in two bags of Dole prepackaged lettuce. The affected Dole products were recalled.

The amounts of the settlements were not disclosed. It is not clear whether more lawsuits are pending.
 

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Lea Thompson, chief consumer correspondent for NBC News, had a chance to interview Amber Brister and her mother, Lori Olson.

Amber had contracted E. coli poisoning last September. She had kidney failure and had to have a tube inserted through her abdomen, hooked up to a dialysis machine for 24 hours a day for about 18 days. She couldn't eat solid foods, had to be fed intravenously, and needed four blood transfusions.

At the same time, 54-yr-old Roi Dahl was also rushed to the emergency room with symptoms similar to Amber’s. Ten similar cases hit Minneapolis hospitals in three days – all from contamination of bagged, pre-washed salad.

Dole Foods issued a voluntary recall for the 'American Blend' and 'Classic Romaine' bag salads implicated in the outbreak, but not before at least 26 people in three states had gotten very sick.

Olson and others who got sick want some answers, and are suing Dole foods.

To solve the mystery of how bag salad is contaminated, state and federal health officials have launched a wide-ranging investigation. So far, that investigation shows that lettuce implicated in last fall's outbreak was grown in seven different fields in the Salinas valley of California. It was processed at a Dole packing plant in Soledad. Beyond that, the government has no idea where the E. coli came from.

In California's Salinas valley, water contaminated with animal feces is the leading suspect in three of the E. coli outbreaks. Investigators found before each one, these low lying fields had been flooded with creek water. A sample of the creek bed tested positive for E. coli.

Scientists believe E. coli bacteria might have been absorbed by the lettuce plant's root system. If that happens, washing the lettuce won't do any good – the E. coli is already growing inside.

So what do you do while we wait for the scientists and the experts to figure it all out?
 

• Even though bag lettuce is pre-washed, and is labeled ready to eat, experts say it doesn't hurt to wash it again.
•  Make sure your hands are clean and you keep the vegetables away from any raw meat.
• Keep that salad refrigerated.
• Check the expiration date before you eat it. Even if the lettuce looks good, you should know E. coli can grow quickly in deteriorating greens.
   

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Nearly 55 outbreaks have been linked to fresh fruits, vegetables, or salads between 1990 and 1998. Then, in July 2002, over 50 young women were stricken with E. coli at a dance camp after eating "pre-washed" lettuce, leaving several hospitalized and one with life-long kidney damage.

In September 2003, nearly 40 patrons of a California restaurant chain became ill after eating salads prepared with bagged, "pre-washed" lettuce. 13 residents of a California retirement center were sickened after eating E.coli-contaminated "pre-washed" spinach in October 2003. 2 residents died.

Then, in 2005, cases of E. coli infections were reported in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Minnesota. The source of the infection was determined to be prewashed, precut, bagged salad mixes manufactured by the Dole Food Company. The FDA issued a Nationwide Health Alert and recalled the products - Classic Romaine, American Blend, and Greener Selection.

The FDA had been trying for some time to alert the California produce industry about the need for safety precautions, but there had been little response from growers. The FDA identified 18 outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 associated with fresh or fresh-cut lettuce, resulting in 409 illnesses and two deaths, since 1995. Eight of the outbreaks were traced back to Salinas, California.

Further research indicated that industry practices, including irrigation and field drainage methods, may have led directly to the contamination of the lettuce with E. coli O157:H7 due to sewage exposure, animal waste, and other contaminated water sources.

As a result, the FDA stated that it considers any ready-to-eat crops that have come in contact with flood waters to be "adulterated". The FDA warned industry members that food produced under unsanitary conditions will be considered "adulterated, and that enforcement actions would be considered.

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In September 2005, Hercules Tsirovakas tested positive for E. coli infection. Questions posed to his uncle resulted in the information that Tsirovakas has purchased two packages of 75% lean ground beef at the Stop & Shop Grocery Store in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Since there were leftover hamburger meat still at the residence, Tsirovakas' uncle delivered the product to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services for testing. In addition, the City of Manchester Department of Health sent a specialist to the Stop & Shop.

Investigators found all seven samples submitted tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.
The Stop & Shop issued a Public Health Advisory and recall regarding the ground beef sold at their grocery store.

Because the Stop & Shop did not keep records of what pieces of meat were ground and added to its hamburger meat, the USDA was unable to trace back the source of the E. coli contamination to a single beef source. No additional cases of E. coli infection was reported, and the case was closed in October 2005.

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Erika Boehlke was hospitalized in September 2005 at the Albany Medical Center Hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome, caused by E. coli O157:H7. After interviewing her parents, it was determined that a possible source for the infection could be hamburger meat.

In late August, Erika had eaten a Topps brand quarter pound beef patty that was cooked on the grill at the Boehlke home. Since there were leftover uncooked patties at the home, the Albany County Health Department was able to conduct a test on the meat.

Testing showed that the hamburger meat was indeed contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Investigators then attempted to trace back the Topps frozen hamburger patties to source the origin of the contamination.

Although the Boehlkes were certain that the hamburger patties had been purchased at either a Wal-Mart or PriceChopper store, investigators were unable to locate any product at either store with the same barcode as the contaminated product.

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In September 2005, a large number of E. coli O157:H7 infections in King and Pierce Counties in Washington revealed contaminated parsley used at an Olive Garden restaurant.

Later that same month, more infections surfaced, from parsley used at three other Olive Garden restaurants and The Boat Shed restaurant.

In October, more than 20 customers at McGrath's Fish House also reported incidents of E. coli poisoning. Parsley was again determined to be the source of the outbreak.

Investigators initiated a trace-back of produce suppliers to determine which supplier provided the parsley to the restaurants. The investigation lead to a single grower in Oregon. The Washington Department of Health as well as the Oregon Department of Agriculture were notified.

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In July 2002, 17 Colorado residents were infected with E. coli O157:H7. Several reports of infections also came in from neighboring states. There had been an initial recall by ConAgra Beef Company in June, of 354,200 pounds of ground beef. The strain of E. coli matched that of the recalled beef.

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service expanded the ConAgra recall to 18.6 million pounds of ground beef, one of the largest meat recalls in US history.

In the weeks that followed, more than 45 people in 23 states reported illnesses linked to the contaminated ground beef.

It was found that USDA inspectors first knew of the E. coli contamination at the ConAgra plant in May, but had failed to issue a recall. Subsequent inspections throughout the next month also showed positive test results for E. coli, but a recall was not issued by ConAgra until June 30, 2002.

ConAgra admitted that it knew about the positive test results before the recall was issued, but had doubted the results of the tests. Reports indicate that ConAgra received 31 violations in the 13 months before its June and July 2002 ground beef recalls. At least 15 of those violations involved cattle feces, which carries the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

After the 18.6 million pound recall, federal officials began taking a closer look at the USDA's E.coli testing processes as well as company practices. In November 2002, the ConAgra plant in Greeley, Colorado, (the plant responsible for the outbreak) was shut down by the USDA.

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In September of 2003, a report of several male patients testing positive for E. coli O157:H7 was reported to the St Clair County Health Department. All patients had eaten at a Habaneros Mexican Restaurant located in the St Claire Square Mall.

The SCCHD also received other reports of people having similar symptoms after having eaten at the same restaurant, and a foodborne outbreak investigation was conducted. The restaurant agreed to voluntarily cease operations while the foodborne outbreak investigation was underway.

On-site investigations of the restaurant revealed that the temperature of ground beef hot held on the steam table was acceptable, but inadequate cooling of ground beef cooked two days earlier was noted. The walk-in cooler was also so crowded that air could not circulate around meat containers.

Employees were instructed to cook meat in smaller batches, which would allow for more rapid cooling.

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In July 2002, a group of teenage girls who had recently attended a drill team dance camp at Eastern Washington University reported diarrheal illness. The Washington State Department of Health's Public Health Laboratory later confirmed that the illnesses were due to E. coli poisoning.

The Spokane Regional Health District received reports of other cases of E. coli at around the same time, so a broader investigation was started. 55 of the infected had worked at or attended the dance camp. An additional 14 infected had attended a church camp.

The dance camp outbreak was identified as being a result of contaminated romaine lettuce that was shredded, bagged, and sold by Spokane Produce.

The infections at the church camp was determined to be a secondary infection from the dance camp outbreak - several attendees of the dance camp had subsequently gone to the church camp.

Additional small outbreaks were reported at a cafeteria dinner on a Spokane campus, lunch the following day from the same cafeteria, a restaurant salad in Spokane County, romaine purchased at several Spokane area grocery stores, two restaurant salads in Walla Walla County, and romaine served at a restaurant in a Midwestern State. All outbreaks were determined to have originated from Spokane Produce.

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Three days after several people reported having E. coli poisoning, the Salem, Oregon, Wendy's was voluntarily closed for being the source of the outbreak. Additional testing confirmed an additional case at a Wendy's restaurant in Tualatin, Oregon.

A health department investigation revealed that cross contamination from contaminated ground beef was the outbreak source, where meats and multiple salad bar items were prepared in close proximity to each other. Whereas the meats may have been cooked to health specifications, any contaminated salad bar items were not.

Marion County Inspectors found several food-handling problems that likely resulted in the cross-contamination:

 

• Food-preparation staff soaked lettuce in the first compartment of a three-compartment sink that was used to rinse bloody-meat-juice-covered pans in which raw hamburger patties had been held, without cleaning and sanitizing the sink between uses.

• Food-preparation staff used a cleaning and sanitizing "wet towel, dry towel" process, whereby a shelf above the grill that held raw hamburger patties was wiped clean first with a dry towel, then with a sanitized-soaked wet towel. The dry, bloody-meat-juice-soaked towel was used for hand wiping in both the grill area and the sandwich assembly area (where raw products are placed on cooked burgers).

• Poor hand washing was observed.

 

Prior to reopening, the restaurant was required to do the following:

 

• Hand wash Sink/Produce sink in Prep area to be switched to improve accessibility at back prep area hand washing.

• A new hand wash sink will be provided in the grill/sandwich prep area.

• All open foods/not sealed will be removed from the facility and replaced with new product.

• A new utensil washing system will be installed.

• A barrier will be provided to separate the grill from the sandwich assembling area.

• In the near future, a food preparation sink will be installed at the baked potato station.

• Prior to reopening, training and re-orientation will be provided to all staff over food preparation procedures.

• Increased monitoring of cooking hot/cold holding, sanitizer rotation and towel rotation.

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In October 2004, the North Carolina Division of Public Health received reports of people with hemolytic uremic syndrome amongst residents. All had attended the North Carolina State Fair.

Investigators obtained information about animals exhibited at the fair, areas where persons could have had direct contact with animals, and the layout of animals and pens in each of the animal areas, with specific attention paid to livestock exhibits and petting zoos.

Although some samples taken from other areas of the Fair tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, most of the outbreak illnesses stemmed from animal exposure at Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo. In addition to allowing visitors to walk amongst the animals, there was a high number of animals and people in the petting zoo area at all times, which caused stress-related diarrheal symptoms in the animals.

The final report issued recommended preventative measures to minimize contamination between animals and humans, including:

• prohibiting or discouraging direct contact with farm animals

• providing direct supervision at the exhibits

• removing contaminated bedding promptly and often

• having proper hand-washing facilities for use by petting zoo visitors

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In May of 2002, the Rockland County Health Department was alerted to a sudden increase in E. coli O157:H7 infections in their residents. A common denominator in all the cases was the purchase of ground beef products at area BJ's Wholesale Club stores.

Laboratory testing of purchased ground meat products confirmed the presence of E.coli O157:H7 in their ground beef. However, since the products that tested positive initially were handled by consumers prior to testing (handmade meatballs), there was no way to determine if the E. coli was present before handling.

Later, an unopened package of 90% lean ground beef from BJ's was submitted and tested for E. coli. A positive test result yielded a small recall effort by BJ's Wholesale Club, who mailed a notification letter only to those individuals who had purchased the ground beef at their West Nyack store between May 8 and May 13 of 2002.

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Two children in Colorado were diagnosed with E. coli at Penrose St Francis Health Services in September of 20005. The young brothers had both eaten hamburgers at the USAF Academy faculty picnic.

Further investigation revealed that the hamburgers were purchased at a Wal-Mart store and were manufactured by the Flanders Provision Company.

Other cases of E. coli infection related to Flanders ground beef products has been recorded in other parts of Colorado. Flanders Provision Company recalled 900,000 pounds of their frozen ground beef patties in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture. Several weeks later, an additional 184,000 pounds of Flanders ground beef patties were recalled.

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From a cluster of cases reported by the City of Milwaukee Health Department, 64 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 were linked to area Sizzler restaurants - 62 in Layton and 2 in Mayfair. Of those infected, 4 people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and 1 person died. In addition, there were reports of 551 probable cases and 122 possible cases of infection.

Samples from both restaurants were matched to the strain of E. coli found in patients, notably from the chunky taco meat and sirloin tri-tips. The meat was manufactured by the Excel Corporation, but were remanufactured by Sizzler chefs at individual franchise restaurants as part of their food preparation.

Although cross-contamination events are difficult to confirm, the State Department of Health speculates that raw watermelon may have been the vehicle for infection. The watermelon was contaminated when cut with the same tools as the infected raw sirloin tri-tip. Whereas the tri-tip may have been cooked according to health guidelines, the watermelon remained infected.

Sizzler has had several other incidents of E. coli outbreak in its history, all with similar examples of cross-contamination, where raw meats and multiple salad bar items were prepared in close proximity to each other.

Since the outbreaks, Sizzler has started to utilize pre-cut meats rather than prepare them in their kitchens. However, this does not necessarily mean that measures to eliminate cross-contamination have been implemented.

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A total of 22 confirmed, 45 suspect, and 6 secondary cases of E. coli infection spread through Florida in the spring of 2005 when animals from a petting zoo infected visitors at three separate fairs. 12 people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, but no fatalities resulted from the outbreak.

Visitors to petting zoos at the Florida Strawberry Festival, the Central Florida Fair, and Florida State Fair were questioned intensively by investigators through questionnaires. It was determined that AgVenture Farm Shows was the animal vendor for all three events.

Soil samples and environmental swabs as well as all of the animals that had been at the fairs were cultured for examination. It was determined that the E. coli from infected patients matched the strain from 6 animals at AgVenture.

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The Minnesota Department of Health issued a press release in December 2000, regarding 17 residents who had been sicked with E. coli O157:H7.

MDH's final report on the outbreak linked the infections to contaminated ground beef that was sold at SuperValu/Cub Foods, who issued a recall on the products.

The contaminated ground beef was manufactured at American Food Group, who also issued a recall. The 1.1 million pounds of recalled beef was processed in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Department of Public Health also linked three cases of E.coli infection in their state to the same beef.

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service also noted that AFG had been told to recall 1,000 pounds of beef two years earlier, when meat contaminated with E. coli was found at a Cub Foods store in Chicago, Illinois. AFG had also issued a recall for over a half a million pounds of ground beef in 2001.

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An outbreak of E. coli linked to raw milk from an unlicensed dairy in Woodland in December prompted the measure. Some 18 people in Washington and Oregon become ill, some critically.

And now, the Washington Senate has concurred with the House on a bill that will give state inspectors authority to confiscate raw milk from unlicensed dairies. The bill will then be signed by Governor Chris Gregoire.

Besides stiffening penalties for breaking milk-safety rules and giving state inspectors more authority to halt unlicensed operations, Senate Bill 6377 will require the Agriculture Department to study how the smallest dairies can satisfy health standards.

Raw milk advocate Chrys Ostrander tells the Washington Daily News that although the availability of raw milk may decrease as unlicensed dairies stop distributing the product because of the threat of jail time, he thinks that in time it will rebound as more microdairies obtain a license.

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Investigators are asking questions on dairies, posing as raw milk buyers to see if dairy owners will sell them some of the unpasteurized milk. When they do in states like Ohio, where the sale of raw milk is illegal, they have their licenses revoked and are heavily fined.

Raw-milk advocates tout the health benefits of the unpasteurized product, but health experts say that the raw product has a higher risk of harboring bacteria such as E. coli, which can cause not only upset stomachs, but can be potentially fatal.

County health directors are told to be on the lookout for any sort of raw milk sales, whether they be on farms or in farmer's markets, says the Knight-Ridder Tribune. Farmers are allowed to drink milk from their own cows without pasteurization, but are also prohibited from giving raw milk to "herdshare" or "cowshare" owners as well.

The Food and Drug Administration lets each state regulate raw-milk sales, but it is illegal to sell across state lines. The Centers for Disease Control and the American Medical Association also have warned against drinking unpasteurized milk.

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The Daily News reports that the House Agriculture Committee approved legislation forcing raw milk dairies to get licensed, but downgraded the penalties a violator would face.

The amendments make a first violation a misdemeanor and further offenses a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in a county jail and a $5,000 fine.

The House agriculture committee also amended the Senate bill to set up a work group to study how to help small farms obtain a state dairy license.

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The parents of Abigail Hayse, 6, and her brother, Bryce, 3, have filed a lawsuit in the Hillsborough Circuit Court against AgVenture Farm Shows and the Florida State Fair.

The lawsuit, the Tribune says, claims that the children caught a near-fatal strain of E. coli from petting animals at the Fair, and that Agventure and the Florida State Fair Authority failed to exercise reasonable care to protect Abigail and Bryce, avoid exposing them to E. coli and give adequate warnings about potential dangers.

26 people contracted E. coli from Agventure petting zoos at the Central Florida Fair in Orlando, the Strawberry Festival in Plant City and the State Fair in Tampa.

The Hayses' lawsuit requests damages in excess of $15,000. Thus far, the children's medical bills have cost about $25,000.

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A lawsuit has been filed against the Oregon farm that provided the parsley that sickened patrons at restaurants in Washington and Oregon.

Marler Clark filed the lawsuit on behalf of Elaine McPhatter, who fell ill with E. coli poisoning after eating parsley that was served at the Boat Shed restaurant in Bremerton, Washington. The parsley was grown by the Oregon farm listed in the lawsuit.

Ms. McPhatter remained hospitalized for eleven days at Harrison Hospital, undergoing several blood transfusions.

In 1998, parsley grown in Baja, California, was the source of a Shigella outbreak that sickened dozens of Americans.

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Lori Olson's plan to serve healthy meals to her daughters backfired when the salad she served them resulted in E.coli poisoning in her 11-year-old.

The Star-Tribune reports that Amber Brister was hospitalized for 34 days after her kidneys shut down. She needed four blood transfusions and 18 days of kidney dialysis.

It was determined that she contracted the bacteria from pre-washed salad made by the Dole Food Company. She was one of 26 confirmed cases linked to the outbreak, which sent 13 people to the hospital after it began in September.

Since 1995, 19 confirmed outbreaks have sickened 400 people nationwide and caused two deaths. Investigations have linked most of the outbreaks to lettuce grown in California.

The Olson family has filed a lawsuit against Dole, alleging negligence and seeking at least $200,000 in expected medical bills and other damages. Two other lawsuits over Dole lettuce have been filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

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An E. coli lawsuit has been filed in Albany County Supreme Court by Marler-Clark and Underberg & Kessler against Topps Meat Company and Price Chopper. The contaminated hamburger was produced by Topps and sold by Price Chopper.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Darrell and Laurie Boehlke and their 8-year-old daughter, Erika, who became ill after eating a hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

Erika developed hemolytic uremic syndrome as a result of the E. coli infection, and underwent eleven rounds of kidney dialysis. Erika now suffers from permanent kidney damage and remains at risk of future complications, including end stage renal disease.

Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler have together represented hundreds of New York citizens who have become ill with food- or water-borne illnesses.

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Marler Clark filed a third E. coli lawsuit against Dole late Tuesday in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Lori Olson, a Minneapolis resident, and her two minor daughters.

The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Olson's daughters, 15-year-old Amanda Brister, and 11-year-old Amber Brister, became ill with symptoms of E. coli infections in late September. Both sisters were confirmed by the health department to be part of the outbreak that has affected at least 23 people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area who became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating Dole bagged salads at the end of September. Dole issued a nationwide recall of over 250,000 bags of lettuce on October 2.

Continue Reading...

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A Portland woman has gone to federal court to sue the Dole Food Company over packaged salad contaminated with E-coli.

Mary Scheetz, who suffered severe gastrointestinal illness and pain that put her in the hospital for several days, has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Portland, alleging that Dole was negligent for the contamination, and for not moving more quickly to get it off the shelves.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a nationwide health alert earlier this month against eating certain packaged Dole salads because of the contamination.

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The Herald Salinas Bureau reports that legal action is mounting in connection to a recent E. coli outbreak that affected at least 17 people who said they became sick after eating Dole Fresh Vegetable bagged salads.

Bill Marler, an attorney with Marler Clark law firm in Seattle, will be filing on behalf of a woman in Oregon, and has been contacted by five other people in regards to filing lawsuits.

The outbreak in question effected at least 17 people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area who ate one of three Dole bagged salads at the end of September and were infected with E. coli 0157:H7, the most dangerous strain of the bacteria. A nationwide recall of 245,000 bags of produce, all grown in the Salinas valley, was the result.

This is the fourth E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak connected to produce grown in the Salinas Valley since 2002. Three other cases, reported between July 2002 and October 2003, involved contaminated lettuce and spinach that sickened at least 114 people and killed an elderly woman.

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Jennifer Kern of the Forest Lake Times reports that a Minnesota woman who had planned to attend her niece's wedding in Wisconsin ended up spending that time a the Fairview Hospital instead as a result of E. coli poisoning from eating a bagged salad from Dole.

Gail Rychlicki is one of 23 people in the Twin Cities who have been confirmed to have contracted E.coli after consuming Dole prewashed salad mixes.

Her case was so severe in fact, she underwent a colonoscopy and had to stay in the hospital for five days.

Looking back on the experience, Rychlicki says she is going to be much more selective when it comes to lettuce preparation.

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KEYC News reports that Carol and Lenny Tvedten didn't know that their illness was caused by the Dole prewashed salad mix that they ate until Lenny Tvedten saw a news story about the tainted lettuce.

Although he had gotten better, his wife was still in the hospital at the time after two trips to the ER. She spent nine days at the hospital being treated for various ailments, ranging from fatigue and cramping to flu-like symptoms.

With his wife still in the hospital, Lenny Tvedten checked the lot number on the bag of Dole salad mix in the refridgerator and found that it matched the recalled product.

The Tvedtens have filed a lawsuit against Dole.

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Leonard and Carol Tvenden's lawsuit against the Dole Company is the first lawsuit to be filed in the E. coli outbreak stemming from the company's prewashed lettuce mixes.

Carol fell ill with Gastro intestinal symptoms in mid-September after eating the lettuce, and had to spend nine days in the Fairmont Medical Center.

It has since been followed by a nationwide health alert and a recall of over 245,000 bags of the bagged salad.

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Today's Manx Independent reports that legal action may be taken due to claims of high-levels of E. coli going into Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man, following the introduction of a whey disposal pipeline by Isle of Man Creameries.

Tests showed the E. coli level to be 100 times the EC bathing waters directive mandatory limit in the Bay.

Isle of Man Creameries chief executive Findlay MacLeod is refuting the claims, saying that their whey pipeline is not the cause of the increased levels of E. coli.

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Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit against The Dole Company, Inc., on behalf of Leonard and Carol Tvedten of Fairmont, Minnesota. Jardine, Logan, and O'Brien, a respected Minnesota law firm, also represents the Tvedten's.

Carol Tvedten fell ill with gastrointestinal symptoms in mid-September after eating pre-washed Dole brand salad at home with her husband. Leonard Tvedten also fell ill, but did not require hospitalization.

Tests confirmed that the strain of E. coli that had infected Carole Tvedten was precisely the same as the strain that health officials cultured from Dole lettuce samples that were the subject of a nationwide recall.

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Marler Clark filed an E. coli lawsuit Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, on behalf of Jodi Greer, a Troutdale, Oregon resident who became ill with an E. coli infection after eating at the restaurant's Gresham store in April 2005.

The complaint states that Ms. Greer suffered severe gastrointestinal symptoms including bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, chills, muscle aches, and fatigue, and was treated at the Providence Portland Medical Center ER 3 days after dining at the Gresham Olive Garden.

She later submitted a stool sample to the Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD) that cultured positive for Enterotoxigenic E. coli -- E. coli O169:H41. During their outbreak investigation, the MCHD determined that Ms. Greer was one of at least 18 people who succumbed to E. coli after eating at the Olive Garden.

People don't go out to eat at a chain restaurant and expect to get sick. Olive Garden owed a duty to Jodi, and to all of its other customers, to sell food that was safe for human consumption, and the restaurant failed to perform that duty.

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The Daily Mail reports that British tour operators Thomas Cook and Thomson are facing lawsuits after sending tourists to Club Hotel Riu Mambo, Riu Merengue and Riu Bachata, where hundreds fell ill - hotels to which American and Canadian companies had ceased sending tourists.

British tourists infected with the virus ended up on intravenous drips in their hotel rooms. In a statement, they claim their symptoms were misdiagnosed as 'tummy upset' and that they were given 'wholly inappropriate' medication. One mother is quoted as saying, 'It was horrendous. Used needles and drips were just dumped in bins in the hotel room and we never saw the doctor or nurse wash their hands before or after treatment.'

Thomas Cook and Thomson suggested in their reports that the bug was airborne and passed from human to human and had nothing to do with hotel hygiene standards. However, they have both stopped sending tourists to the three hotels and are offering alternative accomodations or a refund.

The Dominican Republic, which has more than 200,000 British visitors a year, earned the nickname the 'Septic Isle' after a spate of food poisoning incidents. In 1997, an outbreak affected 500 tourists staying at 35 hotels and three women also caught typhoid.

A survey by the Consumers' Association the following year found that seven out of eight Dominican hotels were serving meat contaminated with bacteria including E.coli.

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The Salinas Californian reports that two Southern California outbreaks of E. coli in 2003 are finding their way back to the city of Salinas.

The first case took place in October 2003 when a group of residents at a retirement home community in Portola Valley became sick after eating raw spinach, and one of them died. An investigation by the California Department of Health Services determined the spinach was processed by River Ranch Fresh Foods, LLC, and grown on several farms in the Salinas Valley.

The second case involved Southern California restaurant chain Pat & Oscar's, where close to 60 people fell ill with food poisoning after eating lettuce that state health officials also traced to River Ranch and Diamond Produce, also in the Salinas Valley.

River Ranch and Diamond Produce then filed claims against Monterey County in November, citing that their produce could have been contaminated by water coming from the Santa Rita Creek, which runs along the fields where the crops were harvested.

Now, Monterey County officials say the city of Salinas is responsible for the upkeep of Santa Rita Creek. Contamination can happen if flooding after rains cause overflow from the creek into area farms.

It should be noted that, even though the state health officials determined where the food came from, they have not found the source of the E. coli, said Allen Stroh, Monterey County's director of environmental health. Litigation in these cases could take years or could be settled in a matter of months.

There have been no other E.coli outbreaks traced to Monterey County since 2003.

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As the St. Petersburg Times reported today, Marler Clark is representing an Orlando resident who contracted an E. coli infection after attending the Central Florida State Fair in Orlando, as well as Diana Walters, 48, who became ill with the symptoms of E. coli infection six days after visiting an Ag-Venture Farms petting zoo at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City.

As I told the Times, the lawsuit will name Ag-Venture Farms as well as the Strawberry Festival, because we anticipate that Ag-Venture Farms alone won't have enough insurance to compensate the victims of the outbreak.

Last month, state officials said they had traced the source of the bacterial outbreak to two sheep, two goats and a cow at Ag-Venture Farms. Those animals, along with the rest of the herd at Ag-Venture Farms, will be quarantined for the rest of their lives, officials told Times reporters, adding that the farm has 37 animals.

Statewide, 30 people were confirmed to have been infected, and 50 more are suspected cases, according to state Health Department spokeswoman Lindsay Hodges. The sick experienced bouts of diarrhea after attending either the Florida Strawberry Festival, the Florida State Fair near Tampa or the Central Florida fair in Orlando. Some developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially fatal kidney disease.

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WFTV.com reports that the number of confirmed E. coli and hemolytic uremic syndrome cases are now at 28, with 45 suspected cases. More lawsuits are being filed against AgVenture, the Plant City-based company that had provided animals to petting zoos at three Central Florida fairs - the Florida State Fair, the Central Florida Fair, and the Florida Strawberry Festival.

The latest lawsuit targets the Central Florida Fairgrounds, saying there are many things the Central Florida Fair could have done to lower the petting zoo risks. The family's attorney says the fair is just as responsible as Ag-Venture.

"The testing (of the animals) should be done by the petting zoos themselves, AgVenture, and it should be required by fair owners or agricultural fairs before they allow these vendors on their property," said attorney Jeffrey Miller. At the very least, he says, the Central Florida Fair should have warned of the danger and had better hand washing available.

The lawsuit says the fair and AgVenture should have warned against eating and drinking in the animal area and kept children from carrying in pacifiers or sippy-cups. It also suggests soap and running water as the Centers for Disease Control recommends.

"There were no warning signs they saw that advised them that their children could end up in ICU at the hospital simply by going to a petting zoo," said Miller.

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There is now a sixth family suing AgVenture Petting Zoos for causing their children to fall ill to an infection of E. coli. Laurel Oliver's two children, Grant, 4, and Veronica, 6, played in the petting zoo provided by AgVenture at the Central Florida Fair.

On WFTV News, Oliver said, "As a mother, my nightmare is my child can't take antibiotics. We're living in a bubble for 30 days, have cancelled our plans with our family and, secondly, we have a time bomb we're sitting on. I don't know if my children will be on dialysis."

Ag-Venture says signs were posted at the petting zoos communicating the importance of hand washing after touching the animals, but the signs never mentioned potentially deadly infection.

The family says they were never warned that the animals carried a potentially deadly strain of E. coli. The kids are recovering, but don't know yet whether they'll contract the potentially deadly Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).

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There are now 24 confirmed cases of E.coli infection and 40 suspected cases statewide in Florida, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Most of those who were infected live in Orange County in central Florida, and that's where three lawsuits have been filed.

Our lawsuits allege AgVenture Farm Shows of Plant City, Florida, should have done a better job protecting visitors from the bacteria and merely cautioning them to wash their hands was not enough.

The reality is, trying to keep their hands washed constantly, not just wiping them down with a handy wipe -- it's a very difficult task.

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State health workers say there are two new confirmed cases of a potentially deadly E. coli infection in Florida, for a total of 24 confirmed cases statewide and 40 suspected cases. So far, most of the cases have been found in children in Orange County.

State health officials said Plant City-based AgVenture Farm Shows appears to be the common link in the illnesses, they emphasized that their investigation is not finished. AgVenture was the company that provided petting zoos for all three Florida fairs where visitors had contracted Escherichia coli O157:H7. The illness has been marked by mild to severe cases of diarrhea for most victims. But in some cases, the diarrhea has been followed by a dangerous condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which has caused kidney failure and requires the use of dialysis. Young children and adults with compromised immune systems are most vulnerable to the illness.

Lawsuits are beginning to be filed by victims of the infection against AgVenture. Attorney Scott Miller is representing Tricia Chace of Deltona and her children, Connor, 3, and 18-month-old twins Courtney and Cole, who fell ill after attending the petting zoo at the Central Florida Fair, which ended March 13..

Marler Clark is also filing legal action against AgVenture on behalf of Yvonne Miller of Orlando, who attended the Central Florida Fair on March 13 with her three children. Three days later, she became ill with symptoms of an E. coli infection, was hospitalized for five days and required a blood transfusion.

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Sung Kim's son John, is now out of the hospital but he only has 70 percent of his kidney function. The 6-year-old was diagnosed last week with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by E. coli. Now he, his wife Hyeon and their son John have filed a lawsuit against Agventure Farm Shows, the traveling petting zoo that was at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.

The bacteria illness is believed to be linked to petting zoos that were at two Florida fairs - the Central Florida Fair and the Florida Strawberry Festival. Agventure was the company that provided the animals at petting zoos at both fairs.

The Florida Department of Health has raised the number of confirmed cases to 22 -- three adults and 19 children. In addition, there are 24 unconfirmed yet suspected cases.

Some families are already taking legal action in relation to the recent E. coli breakout. Two lawsuits were filed Wednesday, one of them being Sung Kim's family. The other family's 2-year-old is in intensive care. As more and more victims are discovered every day, several of them are going right from the hospital to the courts.

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North Carolina: State Fair E. coli O157:H7 Litigation

Marler Clark, and a well respected Asheville, NC attorney, will filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court against Jason and Ralph Wilkie, owners and operators of the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo, the petting zoo linked to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at the North Carolina State Fair in October. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four children who suffered from E. coli infections after visiting the Crossroads Farm petting zoo at the State Fair.

Continue Reading...

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The Daily Journal reported today that Detective Sgt. Michael Santiago, who nearly died from food poisoning, has settled a federal lawsuit against Cracker Barrel. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

Camden attorney Brendan Kavanagh, who represented Santiago, said that the Santiago family had run up more than $2 million in medical costs, which is not unusual for a HUS case.

Santiago, his family and friends had been on a camping trip to New York in July 2002. On the return trip, Santiago became violently ill not long after eating at a Cracker Barrel in Binghamton, N.Y. The illness was traced to an E. coli infection. Santiago spent two- and-a-half months in hospitals. He was in an induced coma for much of that time; he suffered seizures and lost nearly half of his body weight.

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As the Herald Salinas Bureau reported today, Marler Clark has been settling claims for victims of an E. coli outbreak involving contaminated vegetables grown in Salinas Valley. While we settle claims against the establishments -- Pat & Oscars restaurant and The Sequoias, a retirement facility in Portola Valley -- that served the tainted vegetables, legal cases continue while the restaurant owners attempt to pin the blame on Salinas Valley produce companies, and operators of those produce companies blame the Monterey County Water Resources Agency.

Terms of the settlement agreement between the restaurants and the approximately 49 victims of the outbreak are confidential right now. Not all those claims have been settled, but most have. Once the final claims are settled, the terms of the agreements will be public.

We've resolved our differences. Both restaurants agreed to settle the claims with the victims and are now going upstream after the suppliers.

In turn, the suppliers have filed claims against Monterey County, alleging the county failed to maintain Santa Rita Creek, resulting in flooding that contaminated a field with toxic substances and animal waste.

Dozens of customers at Pat & Oscars, a Southern California chain, and about a dozen residents at The Sequoias were sickened after eating tainted vegetables.

One of our clients, 85-year-old Alice McWalter, died after eating raw spinach she got from a self-service buffet at at The Sequoia. She died on Oct. 14, 2003 at Stanford Medical Center, two days after she became violently ill after eating a salad from the buffet.

At least 16 others at The Sequoias also got sick, but they all survived.

In Southern California, health officials concluded that Pat & Oscars customers treated for E. coli had all consumed salads provided in pre-mixed, pre-washed packaged lettuce mixes. Those bagged salads were tracked back to Salinas Valley.

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Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Alice McWalter, an 85-year-old woman who died last year during an E. coli outbreak at a Portola Valley nursing home. The lawsuit was filed against Sodexho, the Maryland-based company contracted to prepare and serve food for residents at the Sequoias nursing home.

McWalter and 12 other people at the home contracted E. coli in October, most likely from fecal matter on spinach served at the cafeteria. McWalter was hospitalized Oct. 14 and died 12 days later from complications related to the infection. The health agency's investigation found that 46 residents and staff members reported symptoms. Seven people -- including McWalter -- were hospitalized.

The first Sequoias resident was hospitalized Oct. 10, but residents weren't warned of a possible E. coli outbreak until Oct. 13. Matsumoto said the home did not receive test results indicating an E. coli problem until Oct. 13.

The wrong is that someone got sick. And it came from food that Sodexho served In a sense, it's case closed.

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Marler Clark has reached a settlement with fruit-juice maker Odwalla Inc. on behalf of the families of five young victims of a 1996 food-poisoning outbreak caused by a tainted batch of the company's apple juice.

The hefty settlement brings closer to an end a painful saga for the company and victims' families, which began when Washington health authorities announced the outbreak at Halloween a year and a half ago. This brings the number of settled lawsuits to 17, with three remaining.

The settlement calls for an undisclosed amount of money to be placed in trust for the victims, five children who became seriously ill after drinking the tainted apple juice in Washington and Colorado. The youngsters have since resumed normal lives but will need to be monitored for years for potential long-term consequences.

The amounts of the settlements will be substantial enough to fully compensate the children and their families for what they went through and may encounter in the future.

The lawsuits were filed by the families of Michael Beverly, 4, Katherine Wright, 4, and Brooke Hiatt of Seattle; Brian Dimock, 7, of Washington, D.C., and Amanda Berman, 5, of Chicago. The families reached the settlement in talks with Odwalla Chairman Greg Steltenpohl and chief executive officer Stephen Williamson, and Odwalla's insurance firm.

The outbreak was caused by E. coli, which tainted a batch of apple juice bottled at Odwalla's processing plant in Dinuba. Seventy people were sickened by the juice and a 16-month old Colorado girl died. The poisoning was a shock to the young, fast-growing company, which promoted its unpasteurized juices as nutritious health foods. The company now pasteurizes its apple juice.

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A Washington state court yesterday approved the $15.6 million settlement of our lawsuit on behalf of a 12-year-old girl who nearly died after eating a tainted hamburger.

Under the settlement Foodmaker Inc., operator of Jack in the Box restaurants, meat processor Von Stores Inc. and various slaughterhouses will pay the sum to Brianne Kiner.

Kiner fell into a 42-day coma after eating a hamburger at a Jack in the Box restaurant in January 1993. She was the most seriously affected survivor of meat tainted with the E. coli bacteria that killed three children.

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The Washington Supreme Court today declined to review last year's Court of Appeals decision upholding a $4.6 million award to 11 children injured in a 1998 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that was linked to undercooked taco meat served as part of a school lunch at Finley Elementary School. The School District had sought the Supreme Court's review arguing that school districts should not be held legally responsible if ill-prepared food sickens or kills a student. The Supreme Court refused to consider the argument.

Washington State has a long history of holding school accountable when the children in their care are injured or killed. We believe that the Supreme Court's decision today reaffirms the principle that, when it comes to preparing food for their students, a school's foodservice operation should be held to the same high standard as any other restaurant licensed to operate in this State.

In its investigation of the outbreak, the Washington State Department of Health found that the Finley School under-cooked the taco meat. The Department further found the "differences in the preparation, handling, and transport of meat may have allowed for uneven cooking, uneven cooling, and uneven re-heating at the elementary school. This outbreak and the resulting investigation highlight the importance of regular inspections of institutional kitchens and the need for training of food service workers."

School-aged children are more vulnerable than most when it comes to exposure to contaminated food. Those who argue for lower-standards plainly do not understand what the problem is, or what is truly at stake. If anything, schools should be held to the highest standards. These are our children we are talking about.

In declining to accept review of the Court of Appeals decision, the Supreme Court foreclosed any further legal options for the school district and its insurers. While this day has been long in coming. It is a day that our clients are grateful for. They will get the compensation that the jury found them so deserving of, and can now get on with their lives.

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ConAgra Foods agreed Tuesday to settle legal claims of six more victims - three of them in Colorado - who were sickened or died after eating E. coli-tainted beef last summer.

That brings to 21 the number of cases ConAgra has agreed to pay without going to court. ConAgra owned the slaughterhouse that produced the infected meat.

Details of our settlements aren't being disclosed to the public. The settlement money for the kids will be placed into trust accounts to pay for future medical expenses and education.

At least six more victims' claims are pending from the 18.6 million-pound meat recall in July. It occurred after beef at the plant tested positive for the bacteria and became one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history.

The six claims settled Tuesday involved the most seriously affected by the meat, including a 68- year-old Ohio woman who died, the only death among 47 illnesses linked to the recall.

The Colorado cases settled Tuesday involve two girls, 2 and 17, and a 4-year-old boy. The other settlements involve a 2-year-old Nebraska boy and a 7-year-old boy from South Dakota.

The kids each suffered from hemolytic uremic syndrome, a sometimes-fatal kidney disorder caused by the E. coli 0157:H7 that infected the meat. The disorder causes long-term complications.

The victim who died was Patricia Pfouts of Whitehall, Ohio, who worked as a day-care provider at a grocery store where some of the tainted meat was sold.

ConAgra's decision to settle without being sued is highly unusual. It's never happened to me in my career. Unlike most companies I've dealt with, ConAgra has stepped up for these kids and their families.

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I recently had the opportunity to dine with Todd Frankel of the Post-Dispatch, as well as discuss the recent Habaneros E. coli Outbreak in Missouri. From Frankel's article:

Dining with Bill Marler can be an unusual experience.

Marler, a Seattle attorney, is one of the nation's top litigators of lawsuits resulting from food-borne illness. His clients include five of the six victims of the E. coli outbreak in August at Habaneros in Fairview Heights.

During a late meal recently at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton, Marler split a bottle of red wine and crab cake appetizer with Patti Waller, his firm's epidemiologist. She had the sea scallops. He ordered a salad.

I haven't eaten a hamburger since Jack in the Box.

Marler talked enthusiastically about his work, about helping people and "teaching companies why it's a bad idea to poison people." He peppered his speech with frequent mention of bloody diarrhea and cow feces. Fortunately, at that late hour, the restaurant was near empty.

"The level of trust we have toward our food supply, in my view, is unwarranted," Marler said, taking another bite of his salad.

As I told Frankel, I was in St. Louis two weeks after the Habaneros outbreak was first publicized. I had been contacted by two of the victims' families.

I'm hoping to avoid filing suit in the Habaneros case. I've been talking with the restaurant's insurance carrier to work out payment for the victims' medical bills. I estimate that the most seriously injured, Patty Timko, will have bills in excess of $250,000.

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BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. and a meat supplier last week agreed to pay a multi-million dollar settlement to the family of a New York girl who became ill after eating contaminated hamburgers.

Marler Clark client Katelyn Koesterer, who suffered life-threatening injuries including hemolytic ueremic syndrome, sued the store for selling adulterated meat that was found to contain E. coli O157:H7. The Koesterer family bought the 90% ground beef at the West Nyack, N.Y., store in May 2002. The family of another girl, Christinia Graff, also sued the retailer after she became ill from eating contaminated hamburgers served at the Koesterer house.

We also represent a young boy whose family bought tainted hamburger from another BJ's Wholesale Club store. That family's meat matched the genetic profile of the meat bought at the West Nyack store.

The boy's lawsuit is still ongoing. No amount is never enough to make it right, since the 8-year-old girl will have "life-long" health problems as a result of her injuries.

The family's lawsuit has triggered others down the meat-handling supply chain. BJ's Wholesale Club sued meat distributor C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., which then sued its meat supplier, Taylor Packing Co., Inc. and Moyer Packing. C&S also charged the meat supplier with failing to obtain insurance to cover these types of claims. Moyer argued that the meat was contaminated after it left its control.

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