Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : Bill Marler : Marler Clark

NBC17.com also did a story about my Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo lawsuit. From their article:

"Twenty-four outbreaks have been linked to fairs and petting zoos since 1995," said attorney William Marler, of the Seattle law firm Marler Clark. "Any operator of a petting zoo should be well-versed in the ways of preventing E. coli infections among their patrons and should have procedures in place to do just that. At this petting zoo, procedures were woefully inadequate to prevent an outbreak."

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As the Associated Press reported yesterday, I filed my lawsuit against Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo Friday on behalf of my clients whose young children got HUS from E. coli contamination at the North Carolina State Fair. Some of these families have more than $100,000 in medical bills, so this won't be a cheap lawsuit. Not that HUS cases ever are.

And not that there's any amount of money in the world that could restore what these families have lost. One family had two preschool boys who became severely ill, with one boy hospitalized for 10 days and the other for 17 days. All of the children involved in the lawsuit were 3 or younger.

As the AP reports:

"Twenty-four outbreaks have been linked to fairs and petting zoos since 1995," Marler said after the lawsuit was filed. "At this petting zoo, procedures were woefully inadequate to prevent an outbreak."

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North Carolina health officials announced Thursday that the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo exhibition at the state fair in October. This was a heartbreaking outbreak -- one that caused 15 young children to get HUS. Four out of the 15 are still on kidney dialysis. Half of the 108 people infected with E. coli were 5 years old or younger, and two-thirds were under 18.

As the Associated Press reported yesterday:

Health inspectors found that those infected at the State Fair were most likely to have fallen down in manure, touched manure, stepped on manure or had animals jump on them.

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To the editor:

Regarding the recent outbreak of E. coli across the state, the blame now apparently rests squarely on the shoulders of departing Commissioner Britt Cobb and the Department of Agriculture under his watch. Mr. Cobb and the state agency he oversaw are charged with "... controlling and eliminating animal diseases and ensuring general animal health." This according to the department's own web site.

The E. coli outbreak at the N.C. State Fair last month which infected over 100 fair goers, half of them children, illustrates the unreserved lack of attention and prioritization by the former commissioner's Veterinary Division and exposes serious flaws in judgment and oversight at the very event which is expected to showcase the Agriculture Department's best side. But alas, Mr. Cobb's apparent lack of experience failed those who have entrusted him with ensuring their health and safety.

Sobering questions come to mind. Why were there not enough hand washing stations? Why were patrons, including parents of children, charged a fee for hand sanitizer? Why was all petting zoo livestock not tested for E. coli if possible?

Mr. Cobb is currently contesting the results of the commissioner of agriculture election, even though he clearly lost. He is maneuvering for another special statewide election to undo the will of the majority who elected his opponent Steve Troxler. Why would voters place their trust and confidence in an appointee such as Mr. Cobb who is clearly more preoccupied with his political career than the welfare of the children who patron the petting zoos at the N.C. State Fair under his administration?

Reagan Sugg
Greensboro

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The News-Observer ran an article a few days ago about 3-year-old Matthew Baldwin, who picked up a nearly deadly case of E. coli from a 45-minute visit to the petting zoo in October. Matthew was the first of more than 100 people sickened by E. coli last month after attending the North Carolina State Fair.

From the article:

William D. Marler, a personal injury lawyer in Seattle who specializes in contamination cases, said petting zoos are increasingly being identified as sources of E. coli outbreaks. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published suggestions to cut exposure, such as providing hand-washing stations with running water and soap -- an amenity that wasn't offered at the State Fair's petting zoos.

Exhibits that fail to take such measures, Marler said, may carry some legal liability, and four North Carolina families have contacted him.

"I don't think we, as the public and people in positions of authority, have taken this seriously," Marler said. "Maybe five years ago nobody really knew about this, and it was novel. But it's far more than novel at this point. There are dozens of outbreaks that have occurred in petting zoos and fairs.

"We have to get past the thought that we're not going to do anything because fairs are part of Americana. If these were Ferris wheel accidents year in and year out, the public would go crazy."

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The Charlotte Observer in an article this week said cases of E. coli infection have tripled since last week to 112 as N.C. health officials narrowed their search for the source of bacteria to last month's State Fair.

State epidemiologist Dr. Jeffrey Engel told the media that they're investigating all areas where people have contact with animals, including the fair's two petting zoos and other livestock exhibits, and that contaminated food is also under investigation.

My client Kevin Closson, whose 3-year-old daughter was hospitalized for 16 days and nearly died of kidney failure after visiting the petting zoo at a county fair in August 2002, was quoted in the article. "This is not new," Closson said, "and people are not learning from the mistakes of other people that run these fair venues." Closson's daughter was one of two dozen families Marler Clark represented in the Lane County Fair E. coli outbreak.

In this case, the Charlotte Observer reports that one of the victims is a 21-month-old girl. Several kids have been hospitalized with HUS.

As I told Karen Garloch of the Observer:

"We the public have not kept up with the virulence of E. coli O157:h7 ... If you talk to every one of the parents from the Oregon case, they had no idea that this could happen," Marler said.

"When I used to take animals to the county fair, when I was a kid, no one ever heard of E. coli."

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As Sarah Avery reported for newsobserver.com, E. coli cases keep increasing in North Carolina. So far, 24 cases have been confirmed and 33 cases are being studied to see whether the cases are related.

The most common link among the people who are sick is a trip to the State Fair last month -- in particular, to a petting zoo exhibit. Of the 33 cases under scrutiny, 15 have State Fair connections, one attended the Cleveland County fair, seven did not attend the fair and the remainder have not completed the investigator's questionnaire.

"If it does turn out to be a petting zoo, there are thousands of people who were exposed, and they are widespread," said Dr. Jeffrey Engel, state epidemiologist. "People came to visit from other states."

The outbreak is North Carolina's largest E. coli infection since a 2001 incident in Robeson County that stemmed from unpasteurized butter offered to schoolchildren during a demonstration. More than 200 grew sick.

Food contamination, particularly from beef that has come in contact with animal feces during slaughter and processing, is often the source of E. coli infections, but petting zoos are also common sources.

William Marler, a Seattle lawyer who has built a national practice filing lawsuits in E. coli and other contamination cases, said petting zoos are aware of the dangers of the business, and most provide hand-washing stations. But even the best of precautions can still fall short.

He said he represented 25 families in an unsuccessful Oregon case in which people grew ill after visiting the petting zoo. Half of the victims washed their hands; half didn't. Babies in strollers got sick despite never getting out of their strollers or touching the animals.

"The frustrating thing was, there wasn't a common denominator," Marler said. "We were trying to figure out what the fair did or should've done to prevent the outbreak."

He said two of the North Carolina families in the current outbreak have called him, but he does not know whether there is a legal case. Much depends on what state health investigators turn up and whether the outbreak is traced to the State Fair.

"When I was a kid taking my cow to the fair, nobody even heard of E. coli," Marler said. "That was 35 years ago. But since Jack in the Box, and with repeated fair outbreaks, we have to be more vigilant."

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