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

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The McDonald family, who is represented by Marler Clark, filed a lawsuit against Cargill last year, but has withdrawn the lawsuit in the hopes that Cargill will compensate the children for injuries they sustained through mediation instead of a jury trial.
 

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20-year-old Stephanie Smith has woken from nine weeks in a medically-induced coma shortly before Christmas. Smith became ill with an E. coli infection in September after eating a contaminated hamburger, and has since been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome.

On October 6, 2007, Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation announced that it was recalling approximately 845,000 pounds of frozen ground beef patties for possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recall was initiated after three people in Minnesota tested positive for E. coli and a joint investigation by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture identified the Cargill hamburger patties as the source of the illnesses.

The Cargill products were sold at retail establishments and to restaurants and other institutions. Sam’s Club announced that it was pulling the potentially E. coli-contaminated ground beef patties produced by Cargill from its store shelves nationwide on October 5th.
 

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The year 2007 is going to be remembered for the big beef recalls due to E. coli returning with a vengeance. All totaled meat producers were forced to recall over 33.3 million pounds of beef products.

Topping the list was the 21.7 million pound recall due to E. coli that sent the New Jersey-based Topps Foods into bankruptcy. When United Food Group in June was forced to recall 5.7 million pounds of E. coli-laced ground beef, no one would have guessed it was going to lead to a second half of 2007 that found E. coli in beef just like the bad old days.

E. coli forced the recall of 3.3 million pounds of Totino’s and Jeno’s frozen meat pizzas. In two separate recalls, Cargill had to recall over 1.9 million pounds of beef they had contaminated with the deadly E. coli pathogen.

Most of the big recalls of 2007 remain on the active case list of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The percentage of recalled products actually returned to manufacturers is often pretty low.

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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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Cargill Meat Solutions is voluntarily recalling approximately 1,084,384 pounds of ground beef produced at its Wyalusing, Pa., Cargill Regional Beef facility because of the possible presence of E. coli O157:H7.

Cargill learned of the possibility of contamination after the U.S. Department of Agriculture returned a confirmed positive on a sample of product.

Products subject to recall include:

• Century Farm Ground Beef
• Giant Ground Beef
• Giant Eagle Ground Beef Patties
• Shop Rite Ground Beef
• Stop & Shop Ground Beef
• Wegmans Ground Beef Patties
• Weis Premium Meats Ground Beef
• Price Rite Ground Beef

 

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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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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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Three students from Wisconsin and two North Carolina children were added to the number of E. coli illnesses caused by consumption of E. coli-contaminated ground beef patties produced by Cargill and sold by Sam's Club today.

The Wisconsin students all ate hamburgers served at a cookout before a soccer game on campus. The North Carolina children had both attended a cookout where hamburgers were served.

Sam's Club has pulled more than 840,000 pounds of patties nationwide.
 

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At least five Wisconsin residents have been diagnosed with E. coli, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Health officials are working to determine whether the Wisconsin cases have a link to earlier cases reported in Minnesota that were traced back to consumption of E. coli-contaminated hamburgers produced by Cargill and sold at Sam's Club.

One of the victims, an 18-year-old Milwaukee woman, has been confirmed to be suffering from an E. coli infection induced by the same strain of E. coli found in Minnesota children who ate Cargill-brand hamburgers and became ill. The 18-year-old woman linked to the Minnesota cases is the only Wisconsin person whom officials have described.

More tests are being conducted to determine whether any of the other Wisconsin cases share the same strain of E. coli as the Minnesota cases.
 

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