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The McDonald family, who is represented by Marler Clark, filed a lawsuit against Cargill last year, but has withdrawn the lawsuit in the hopes that Cargill will compensate the children for injuries they sustained through mediation instead of a jury trial.
 

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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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The Tennessee health department has confirmed that the seven people who fell ill ate at a Hixson restaurant between July 8th and 20th, reports WDEF-TV.

Since then, employees of the restaurant have all tested negative for the bacteria, and health inspectors have made sure that the restaurant was thoroughly sanitized.

Three of Janet King's four children contracted the bacteria. The ordeal has devastated the family financially; Janet's husband Mark, a Hamilton County deputy missed five weeks of work while doctors treated the kids in and out of the hospital.

Friends are hosting a daylong benefit at Veterna's Park in Soddy-Daisy. Proceeds will help the Kings with extraordinary medical bills they now have. King says she's more than grateful for the family, friends, who helped them during their time of need.
 

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Good news comes in from Knoxville, where two daughters of a Hamilton County deputy have undergone treatment for E. coli.

WDEF-TV reports that three out of four of Mark King's children came down with the bacteria in mid-July.

Doctors released 8 year old Kelsey from the hospital over the weekend and upgraded the condition of her four-year-old sister Lexie from critical to serious. One-year old Harley is already home.

The Health Department still has not determined where the family contracted the E. coli.
 

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Three children from one family became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in early July. One child remains in a Knoxville hospital, hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, but the other two are recovering, reports Newschannel 9.

But over the last ten days, 18-month-old Harley King has been to Children's Hospital twice fighting off the symptoms of E-Coli.

His eight year old sister Kelsey is expected to be released from a Knoxville hospital this afternoon.

The news is not as good for four year old sister Alexis. She remains in the Knoxville hospital with attention focused on her kidneys.
 

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The Chattanooga - Hamilton County Health Department has reported that two children in their county have contracted E. coli.

Health officials are trying to figure out where the children, 18-month-old and four-year-old siblings, contracted the bacteria. NewsChannel9 has learned that the children are doing better and in stable condition.

The CHCHD's CDC Program Manager, Donna Needham says, "It is fecally -- orally transmitted, meaning it is shed from the rectum of a source into an object that be an animal or human. If it goes into an object that is contaminated or food that is contaminated and then it has to get to the mouth of another person. That is where the infection occurs."

Needham says the best way to prevent E. coli is to wash hands thoroughly before eating, preparing food or after using the bathroom to reduce your risk of coming in contact with E. coli bacteria.

Also, Needham recommends keeping raw meat away from raw vegetables and other ready to eat foods to prevent cross-contamination. Other recommendations include drinking only pasteurized milk, juice or cider and washing fruits and vegetables before eating.
 

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Another E. coli outbreak has hit Middle Tennessee, sending more kids to the hospital, according to WTVF-TV Nashville.

Doctors were treating six new children Tuesday night, and there is concern more kids will get sick from the bacterial infection. Two of the patients are suffering from kidney failure. The rest are still recovering.

Unlike the E. coli outbreak in Macon County weeks ago, these six kids were not infected with E. coli from one spot, but rather were from all over central Tennessee. Doctors worry there could be even more cases to come, because E. coli is spread so easily between humans.

E. coli infection can come from under-cooked beef but also from swimming in streams, lakes, and drinking well water that cows may have contaminated. With the new cases, state health investigators began looking into those possibilities.
 

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Six confirmed cases of a serious E. coli infection and four additional "suspected" cases are being looked into by the state Department of Health, according to the Macon County Times.

Most of the six children with confirmed cases have been released from Sumner Regional Medical Center or treated by their family doctor and sent home with their parents. Two children, a girl age three-years and a sixteen month old boy, remain in Vanderbilt Children's Hospital where they are receiving treatment.

It seems as though the outbreak was started with one infected child spreading the bacteria to other children at the center.

The day care center voluntarily closed for the time being as a safety procedure and to make sure everything was thoroughly cleaned and sanitary before children return to avoid the possibility of further infection.

State officials are actively investigating the source of the infection, but the daycare has received good health and safety inspections in the past and has a history of adhering to high standards for the day care industry. The day care facility in Lafayette has been in continuous operation for nearly twenty years.
 

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Newschannel5.com reports that two more children from a day care had to be admitted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital because of complications from E. coli.

There were currently four children in the hospital. Ten kids altogether from Macon County have come down with E. coli. The day care center has been shut down and is complying with health officials in cleaning and sanitizing the facility.

The patients include 15-month-old Colin Hoff, as well as his older brother and eight other children from the Macon County day care he attends.
 

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A representative for the Tennessee Department of Health has reported that an outbreak of E. coli at a local day care was probably started with one infected child who then transmitted the bacteria to other children.

The infected child probably attended the day care facility for three to four days while he was experiencing symptoms of E. coli infection. Nine children have become ill as a result, with two children developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially fatal disease that causes kidneys to shut down.

"Any day care operator should have measures in place to prevent the spread of diarrheal illness at their facility, even if it means sending a kid home until they're feeling better and able to pass solid stool," said William Marler, an attorney who has represented hundreds of victims of E. coli outbreaks. "I understand that having an outbreak is a day care operator's worst nightmare, but this nightmare was largely preventable."

E. coli O157:H7 causes a diarrheal illness that results in painful abdominal cramping, nausea, and bloody diarrhea. Five to ten percent of children who become ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication that can cause kidney failure as well as damage to the pancreas, liver, brain, and heart. Children with HUS can develop medical conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes, and often require medical monitoring and treatment throughout the rest of their lives.
 

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Six confirmed cases of a serious E. coli infection and four additional "suspected" cases are being looked into by the state Department of Health, according to the Macon County Times. All of the infected children, ages 5 and under, attended the same Key Road day care facility operated by Paulette Colter, west of Lafayette.

"Most of the six children with confirmed cases have been released from Sumner Regional Medical Center or treated by their family doctor and sent home with their parents," said Debbie Hoy of the state Department of Health. Two children, a girl age three-years and a sixteen month old boy, remain in Vanderbilt Children's Hospital where they are receiving treatment.

An additional four young children have shown symptoms but have not become dangerously ill from the E. coli strain of infection, which can lead to serious complications such as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which causes damage to the kidneys.
 

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There has been an E. coli bacteria outbreak at a day care center in Macon County, where two toddlers have been admitted to an area hospital as a result. Eight other children are recovering.

The Health Department has begun investigating the outbreak, according to Nashville’s News Channel 5.

Investigators have said that they believe one child somehow contracted E. coli, then went to the day care center in Lafayette. Nine other kids got sick days later from secondary infections from the one sick child.

Two of those kids are in the hospital after their kidneys shut down, as a result of hemolytic uremic syndrome.
 

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