When E. coli strikes, who pays?
Matt McKinney of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and I spoke last week when I was in New York working on the Taco Bell E. coli cases that occurred last year in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. McKinney, also has another article featured this morning, “Meat recalls have highlighted an uptick in illnesses. Experts offer several theories why.”
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We had a long talk about why I think companies whose products sicken and kill, should step up and help the families who are devastated by products that these same companies profit from. This is not a unique request, nor is it something that does not happen. As I said, “past outbreaks linked to the Odwalla Juice Co. and to the Jack-in-the-Box hamburger chain saw both companies make early payments for victims' medical bills.” Other companies, ConAgra, Chi-Chi’s, and recently Taco Bell, have done the same. Being moral does not mean that you are not a good business. As I told Mr. McKinney, I have repeatedly (“Step up and pay” and “Are you going to pay?”) asked Cargill pay bills and wage loss and leave future damages till these children stabilize – silence. A few other points I made in the article "When E. coli strikes, who pays?:
William Marler, a lawyer who has made a career representing E. coli victims, says businesses should be proactive. His latest client is a 4-year-old boy who was sickened last month after eating a hamburger made with meat that came from a Cargill processing plant. The boy, John McDonald, lost part of his intestine, suffered kidney failure and was hospitalized for nearly a month. His year-old sister was also hospitalized for a week with the same strain of E. coli. Marler says Cargill has refused to pay the McDonalds' medical bills and filed a lawsuit this week seeking unspecified damages.My comment is that if companies do not step up and help, we will step up and help them change their mind.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Smith, 20, from Cold Spring, Minn., who was sickened in the same outbreak, remains in a drug-induced coma at the Mayo Clinic, where doctors are trying to save her life. Her family believes that she was sickened after eating ground beef the weekend of Sept. 22.
It was the second ground beef recall this year for Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., a subsidiary of the Minnetonka-based agribusiness giant, which posted net income of $917 million in its most recent quarter.
A spokeswoman for Cargill said the company does not comment concerning pending litigation.
