Jennifer O’Shea of US News and World Report set forth a “Timeline” of deaths and illnesses caused by food poisonings. The problem is that the list if very, very incomplete. She should have visited www.marlerclark.com or www.billmarler.com for the most complete list of food poisoning outbreaks from 1993 to the present. Her list is as
Laboratory testing, PFGE, and epidemiologic investigations
Health care providers may in some instances order testing of an ill person’s blood or stool to help determine the cause of illness. In many circumstances a positive result in such a test must be reported to the health authorities pursuant to statute or regulation. Many states require reporting
A few weeks ago I turned 50 and in a few months I will have been a lawyer for 20 years. For those who know me to be "on" 24/7, and always a cell phone or a email away, it should come as no surprise that I actually love my work. By all measures my
CNN reporter Stephanie Smith and I talked last week, or I talked and she listened about last years E. coli O157:H7 outbreak tied to lettuce at Taco John’s restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa. A fe other interesting facts:
• E. coli on lettuce at Taco John’s restaurants sickened at least 81 people last year
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Both cases focused on a petting zoo at the Strawberry Festival.
Dong-Phuong Nguyen of the Times and I spoke yesterday about the settlement and the future of petting zoos – I would urge everyone to see www.fair-safety.com:
A 7-year-old Tampa girl and a 53-year-old St. Petersburg woman who were sickened from an E. coli outbreak at a petting zoo two years ago have settled their lawsuits against the Florida Strawberry Festival.
Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who specializes in E. coli cases and represented both parties, would not disclose the amount of the confidential settlements. He did say, however, that it fell within the range of typical settlements and jury verdicts for similar cases.
That range, Marler said, is in the millions.
“It’s a hard lesson for petting zoos and county fairs to learn,” Marler said Thursday, “but they really need to do more than what they have been doing.”
Link to Full Story Here.
Tampa Bay Story Here.
The 2005 Florida E. coli outbreak was the 16th documented outbreak traced to animal exposure at a fair or petting zoo since 2000, including a widely publicized E. coli outbreak in North Carolina that occurred just months before. “The Florida Strawberry Festival had plenty of opportunities to become educated about the risks associated with animal exhibits, and petting zoos in particular, but didn’t bother to access the information available and act on existing recommendations to prevent illness among its patrons,” said, co-counsel, Michael Heilmann, noting potential sources of information available before the outbreak:
Continue Reading E. coli lawsuits against festival are settled
Health care provider treatment and diagnosis
Medical records are also an important part of making a food-poisoning case. Both stool cultures, and less commonly blood cultures, can identify the particular pathogen causing a claimant’s illness.
As previously discussed, each foodborne pathogen carries with it an expected incubation period – the amount of time expected to
Health agency inspections and documentation
One extraordinarily effective tool in establishing the defectiveness of a product that no longer exists is uncovering documentation of the food service establishment’s track record from previous health inspections. This may include information regarding prior incidents or accusations of food contamination and prior inspections of the facility and the establishment’s
Two victims of the 2005 E. coli outbreak traced to a petting zoo at the Florida Strawberry Festival resolved claims brought against the festival last week. Both victims, a woman and a young child, suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (www.about-hus.com) and required extensive medical treatment, including dialysis, after contracting E. coli O157:H7 at the
What you eat can make your sick – May 19th and 20th at 8:00 PM EST
America’s dirty little secret. Do you know what you’re really eating? Dr. Sanjay Gupta uncovers the truth.
It is great to see the New York Times focusing attention on food safety – especially E. coli O157:H7 – and quite pleased to see that our clients, the Armstrongs, were interviewed:
Her
