Marler Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : Bill Marler : Marler Clark

As much as any other victim of the 2006 Dole Spinach Outbreak, Suzanne Bandy’s case is about the staggering contrast between past and present.  When asked for her thoughts, Suzanne wrote of her first 57 years: “very simply, my life embodied the American Dream.”  Suzanne’s former life is, however, gone for good.  Now, she states, “I pray to God every day that I may wake up from this horrible nightmare and return to the life that I loved.”

Sadly, Suzanne’s prayers will never be answered.   The E. coli O157:H7 infection, along with the resulting hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), that she suffered in September 2006 devastated her kidneys.  Consequently, her current renal function—measured roughly a year after her acute illness—is nearing a level where either a kidney transplant or lifelong dialysis will be necessary for survival.  It is forecast that Suzanne will reach end stage renal disease in as little as five years.

Mr. President, this could have happened to you too.  E. coli O157:H7, as you will see from this video, is a very nasty bug.

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Official word of the bagged spinach outbreak broke with the FDA’s announcement, on September 14, 2006, that a number of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses across the country “may be associated with the consumption of produce.”

Meanwhile, the FDA and CDC, in conjunction with local and state health agencies from across the country, worked feverishly to figure out the brand names associated with illness. Early statistical analysis suggested that many brands were implicated, but the spinach sold under the several brand names had all come from the Natural Selection Foods processing center in San Juan Batista, California. Accordingly, Natural Selection recalled all of its spinach products with “use by” dates from August 17 to October 1, 2006. The recall, of course, included Dole brand spinach. But further data and study ultimately narrowed the possible sources of the outbreak down to one brand of packaged greens: Dole.

Ultimately, the FDA confirmed 205 outbreak-related cases, with 102 hospitalizations, thirty-one cases of HUS, and five deaths, though the actual number of people affected by the outbreak was certainly much larger. This is the story of one of those cases.

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As Dawn Withers of the Salinas Californian wrote this morning, “E. coli cases at talk stage,” I am actually in Salt Lake City meeting with representatives from Dole, Natural Selection Foods and Mission Organic and their insurers to talk about resolving several cases involving Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. As Dawn wrote:

Bill Marler, a Seattle-based attorney handling the cases of people made ill from tainted spinach, said 51 cases have been settled and another 21 are pending. Six will be the focus of the negotiations this week, he said Wednesday.

“We’ve been working through them, and it hasn’t been without controversy,” Marler said.
Marler said the negotiations for monetary compensation, which are confidential, are complex because some his clients face kidney transplants in the future and lifelong complications from kidney damage caused by the bacteria in the tainted spinach.

“We’re trying to figure out what the right amount of money is to compensate a 4-year-old who will lose her kidneys,” he said.

We in fact were able to resolve all six of the cases today in spite of much gnashing of teeth.  I had a quick chat today with the FOODSNARK about Spinach, E. coli and life in general.

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According to a press released sent by Dole this evening, this product was sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada and in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and neighboring states in the U.S,  - whatever that means.  Here is a report from the Associated Press of a few days ago:

A year after the E. coli outbreak, Ag industry chastened and changed

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Well, I made it back from China this morning only to find the following alert in my email:

OTTAWA, September 16, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Dole brand Hearts  Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts) described below because this product may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

The affected product, Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts), produce of USA, is sold in 227 g packages bearing BIUB (Best If Used By) date 07SE19 and lot code A24924B. This product may have been distributed nationally.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this bacteria may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Some people may have seizures or strokes and some may need blood transfusions and kidney dialysis. Others may live with permanent kidney damage. In severe cases of illness, people may die.

The CFIA is working with the importers to have the affected product removed from the marketplace. The CFIA will be monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

And we thought China had a food safety issue.

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More thoughts on yesterday's hearing:

I have concerns despite the 4 deaths and over 200 illnesses that some politicians may simply fiddle while more spinach and lettuce is grown and more customers are sickened and more businesses go bankrupt (watch for that next).  Yesterday's hearing was more telling by who did not attend - most of the committee, DOLE, Natural Selection (under FBI investigation), the FDA and the CDC.  Frankly, I don't think those that chose to ignore in the need for intervention have a plan to save customers or themselves.  See the story in the LA Times by Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writer

A couple of telling quotes:

• Of the 20 lettuce or spinach outbreaks linked to a virulent and potentially deadly strain of E. coli since 1995, nine have been traced to the Salinas Valley area, one of the nation's largest producers of the leafy greens.

• He (Senator Florez) also criticized health officials for not completing an investigation of an E. coli outbreak linked to Salinas Valley lettuce in 2005 that sickened at least 34 people in Minnesota.

• "With 45 inspectors, 5,500 processing plants and 100,000 farms, that seems to be putting us well behind where we should be," said Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter) at a legislative oversight meeting. "I don't think government is doing its job in this case."

• "I think the time for industry-sponsored approaches are over," said Florez, chairman of the Senate's Committee on Governmental Organization. "I think consumers are looking for stronger measures than the voluntary measures that have produced 20 of these outbreaks. And we don't want to see the 21st."

The hearing was attended by only two senators of the nine-member committee — Florez and Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata).  One of the seven "fiddlers" on the committee seemed to make it clear that he rather simply wait for more bodies to be counted:

• The committee's vice chairman, Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Salinas), declared the hearing a "witch-hunt" and premature.

• "For any legislator to start proposing legislation without having an investigation concluded, I just think it's premature and it's unproductive," Denham said.

Why do these guys get paid?

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