In the wake of the now infamous ConAgra ground beef recall that sickened scores of Americans coast to coast, I called upon anyone who would listen in my op-ed piece for the Denver Post to put me out of business - please. I said:

"For this trial lawyer, E. coli has been a far too successful practice - and a heart-breaking one. I am tired of visiting with horribly sick kids who did not have to be sick in the first place. I am outraged with a food industry that allows E. coli and other poisons to reach consumers, and a President, Congress and federal regulatory system that does nothing about it."

I offered a few common sense solutions:

• Hire more inspectors and give them real authority to sample meat and stop its distribution as soon as a pathogen is detected.


• Consider mandatory recall authority.


• Require the meat industry to document where specific lots of food are sold.


• Merge the two federal agencies responsible for food safety, the USDA and FDA.


• Put pressure on large purchasers of meat to require the meat industry to produce high quality, pathogen lessened, meat.