Health Law

Second Salami Salmonella Outbreak Lawsuit to be Filed Tuesday

By Drew Falkenstein

Tomorrow morning, we will file a second lawsuit in the Salmonella outbreak linked to recalled salami (Daniele, Inc.) and pepper (Wholesome Spice).  The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of Lee Hanks, a resident of Lake Ozark, Missouri. 

Lee purchased the contaminated salami on January 17, 2010, at a WalMart store in Osage Beach, Missouri.  The Salmonella contaminated salami was one part of a variety package of Daniele Inc salami products.  At least one of the salami varieties contained pepper manufactured by defendant Wholesome Spice.

Lee Hanks consumed pieces of the contaminated salami the next day and fell ill late the same evening.  Symptoms began with cramps and nausea. Lee woke up in the early morning hours of January 19, 2010, feeling extremely nauseated, with alternating chills and fevers, and suffering from explosive bouts of diarrhea.

Lee's illness worsened over the next 48 hours, causing him to call his primary care physician the afternoon of Thursday, January 21, 2010. His physician prescribed anti-diarrheal and anti-nausea medications. Lee immediately began to take the medications that his doctor had prescribed, but he only became more ill, weak, and disoriented. Finally, on Saturday, January 23, 2010, Lee had become so ill that his wife demanded that he go to the emergency department at Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, Missouri.

At the emergency department, Lee received several liters of fluid to correct his severe dehydration. He also received a potassium supplement, as his severe gastrointestinal losses had caused him to develop hypokalemia. Lee's attending physician ultimately diagnosed him with a severe bacterial infection and prescribed the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. And before being discharged, Lee submitted a stool sample for testing. 

Lee Hanks continued to be extremely ill and weak over the course of the next several days. The frequent bouts of diarrhea finally began to slow on or about Monday afternoon, but Lee continues to suffer from gastrointestinal discomfort as a result of his Salmonella infection.

In discussions with health officials from Miller County and the State of Missouri, Lee earned that the stool sample he submitted while at the emergency department tested positive for Salmonella Montevideo, which is the strain involved in the national outbreak linked to Defendants' salami and pepper products.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on February 01, 2010 (boomark / email).