Personal Injury Law

E. coli O157:H7 Poisons Nearly A Dozen Boy Scouts

Posted on August 01, 2008
E. coli O157:H7 ruins nearly everything – lettuce, spinach, swimming and hamburger cookouts. So, I suppose the following announcement should come as no surprise this fine summer morning: The Virginia Department of Health is investigating an outbreak of E...

Salmonella Saintpaul Lawsuit Filed Against Wal-Mart

Posted on July 31, 2008
The first lawsuit stemming from the Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 1319 people, hospitalized 255 and caused the death of 2 in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Canada was filed today in the District Court of Montezuma County, Colorado. The complaint was filed on behalf of Delores, Colorado resident Brian Grubbs against Wal-Mart and an unknown supplier, referred to as “John Doe”...

Excel Slaughter House Must Pay Sizzler for Business Loss Says Jury

Posted on July 31, 2008
Under the category, “when it rains it pours,” the meat packing industry took a hard hit – or, was it a stun gun to the head? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports this morning on the “stunning” victory of my friends, Fred Gordon and Ron Pezze, over “big beef” and the lawyers and insurance corporations that protect them...

Obama Interested in Food Safety?

Posted on July 30, 2008
According to Jane Zhang of the Wall Street Journal, "the issue of food safety is also gaining attention on the campaign trail. Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, introduced legislation that, among other things, aims to identify the needs of state health departments and increase the sharing of information among public-health and regulatory agencies...

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Well I See Obama Is Interested in Food Safety

Posted on July 30, 2008
So, Senator Obama's Food Safety Bill landed in my inbox about a minute ago.  I have not read it, but thought I would get it out to my avid blog readers.  I'll comment on it between dealing with more meat and produce recalls.  The Bill is S...

Ohio's Dorothy Lane Markets E. coli Outbreak Linked to Nebraska Beef and All American Meats? - More Recalls in the works? More States to Recall - Like Idaho, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Alabama and New Mexico? More Bodies to Count?

Posted on July 30, 2008
I smell another recall. It seems that our friends in Omaha have been busy.  Apparently, a ground beef sample collected from Est. 20420 (All American Meats) on 6/25/08 tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 with indistinguishable PFGE pattern (genetic fingerprint) combination (EXHX01...

FDA Finds Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak Strain in Irrigation Water and on Serrano Pepper on Mexican Farm

Posted on July 30, 2008
Lou Dobbs must be dancing in the streets. Dr. Acheson of the FDA testified today to a packed Hearing of the Energy and Commerce Committee that the FDA found Salmonella saintpaul, the salmonella outbreak strain that has sickened at least 1,307 people since April, on a Mexican farm...

Nebraska Beef Ltd. again linked to E. coli illnesses in Ohio

Posted on July 29, 2008
According to Ohio Health officials in southwest Ohio, six people have become sick with E. coli O157:H7 in Montgomery County in recent weeks, leading to a ground beef recall from three markets.  Dorothy Lane Market is asking consumers to return ground beef products sold at all three of its stores with sell-by dates between June 9 and July 29...

E. coli O157:H7 Sickens Nine in Nebraska

Posted on July 29, 2008
So, what’s with Nebraska Beef? Nine people in southeast Nebraska have tested positive for E. coli infections, and health officials said a community event may be to blame for some of the illnesses. E. coli at nother potluck? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that every year at least 2000 Americans are hospitalized, and about 60 die as a direct result of E...

Bolthouse Farms Botulism Revisited

Posted on July 29, 2008
Botulism in food is a rare occurrence – Death by Botulism even rarer. However, I received a call today from a Florida family horribly impacted by the September 2006 Bolthouse Farms Botulism-tainted carrot juice. A full report from the CDC can be found here – “Botulism Associated with Commercial Carrot Juice --- Georgia and Florida, September 2006” According to the CDC, on September 8, 2006, the Georgia Division of Public Health (GDPH) and CDC were notified of three suspected cases of foodborne botulism in Washington County, Georgia...

Haphazard Gourmet Girls - What's Bill Marler Eating During The Chowpocalypse?

Posted on July 29, 2008
I had a nice chat last week with one of the three “Haphazard Gourmet Girls.” The Haphazard Gourmet Girls are big fans of Bill Marler, the foremost food poisoning attorney in the United States. Mr. Marler, of Seattle's Marler Clark law firm, has made a career of very successfully suing high-profile Food Industrial Complex corporations, and also writes the excellent, erudite, highly informative Marlerblog, which covers all kinds of foodborne illness issues...

E. coli Lawsuit Filed Against Missouri Raw Milk Distributor

Posted on July 29, 2008
A lawsuit was filed today in the Circuit Court for Barry County, Missouri against Soni Copeland and the Herb Depot and Organic Market. The petition was filed on behalf of Monett residents Brian and Angela Pedersen and their young son, Larry. The Pedersen family is represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness, and by Aleshire, Robb, and Sivils of Springfield, Missouri...

One of my favorite pictures

Posted on July 28, 2008
This was taken by my oldest daughter, of my middle daughter, last summer when we were on the Great Barrier reef searching for our relatives.  The scientific classification of sharks:Kingdom: Animalia - Phylum: Chordata - Sub phylum: Vertebrata - Class: Condrichthyes - Subclass: Elasmobranchii - Super order: Selachimorpha This summer, with Tomatoes or Peppers with Salmonella and E...

Marler Clark Client Helps Crack Salmonella Saintpaul Jalapeno Case

Posted on July 28, 2008
I was on the phone with our client discussing the status of the state of Colorado's test on their jalapeno's, when I received this press release from the state: State Laboratory Confirms First Human Case of Salmonella from Jalapeno DENVER - The Laboratory Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed that a jalapeno pepper provided by an ill individual from Montezuma County has tested positive with the same DNA pattern of Salmonella Saintpaul-the strain that has caused a large, multistate outbreak of salmonella...

Food Safety in the United States - A Letter to Congress

Posted on July 26, 2008
Here is a letter that I sent to all members of the US Senate and House Agriculture Committees RE: Food Safety in the United States Dear U.S. Congress Member: I am writing to you because the American people are losing confidence in the U.S. government’s ability to keep our food supply safe...

E. coli Links Nebraska, Georgia, California

Posted on July 25, 2008
E. coli cases are such an everyday announcement now days, I have trouble keep up with them on the blog.  Here are a few over just the last twelve hours. York Officials Confirmed E. Coli Case A health official says restaurant food and a recent meat recall have been ruled out as possible sources of E...

Food Safety Advocate William Marler Calls for Public Meat Inspection Records

Posted on July 25, 2008
Food safety advocate and attorney William Marler is calling on the Meat Industry and the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) to make the inspection reports from meat processing facilities visible and easily available to the public so that consumers—in including grocery stores and restaurants—can make informed choices on which products they want to purchase...

Raw Goat Milk Injunction Sought in Missouri over E. coli Poisonings

Posted on July 24, 2008
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Raw Milk Causing Illness in East, Midwest and West

Posted on July 23, 2008
In breaking news this evening, Connecticut state inspectors are investigating raw milk from a Simsbury dairy farm after reported illnesses.  The State Department of Agriculture is looking at whether the raw, unpasteurized milk from Town Farm Dairy on Wolcott Street is responsible for making people sick after a number of illnesses have been reported...

Simsbury Town Farm Dairy Linked to Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak

Posted on July 23, 2008
The Hartford Conneticutt Courant reported that The Town Farm Dairy has stopped producing and selling milk and milk products indefinitely after four people contracted E. coli O157:H7, linked to raw milk they bought from the Simsbury farm. We learned that the four ill are children ages 2-7 and that some, if not all, developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome...

Agricola Zaragoza, Inc. of Texas Recalls Jalapeno Peppers - We are watching you.

Posted on July 21, 2008
The FDA has announced that Agricola Zaragoza, Inc. of McAllen, Texas is recalling Jalapeno Peppers distributed since June 30th, 2008 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes-fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems...

Salmonella Saintpaul found on Mexican Jalapeno Peppers in a Texas Plant

Posted on July 21, 2008
Only showing how our food system is truly global, today, US government inspectors have found Salmonella Saintpaul, the strain responsible for a nationwide food-poisoning outbreak, in Mexican-grown jalapenos in a Texas plant, prompting a new warning for consumers to avoid eating fresh jalapenos...

First Georgia Lawsuit filed in National E. coli Outbreak

Posted on July 21, 2008
The first Georgia lawsuit stemming from National E. coli outbreak linked to six states was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Valdosta Division against Nebraska Beef Limited.  The complaint was filed on behalf of Evelyn and John M...

It is time for politicians to notice that consumers are less and less confident in our food supply

Posted on July 20, 2008
It is time politicians take notice – a recent poll found: Nearly half (46 percent) of consumers have changed their eating and buying habits in the past six months because they're afraid they could get sick by eating contaminated food. An overwhelming number (80 percent) support setting up a better system to trace produce in an outbreak back to the source, the poll found...

E. coli O157:H7 is a powerful and deadly bacterium

Posted on July 19, 2008
You cannot see it, taste it, or smell it. 250,000 E. coli O157:H7 (E. coli) bacteria will fit on the head of a pin.  Ten to 50 will kill your child or your grandmother. More likely due the expertise of Children’s Hospitals, and other top medical centers around the country, deaths at times are avoided, however, often not before Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) nearly kills...

Tomatoes, Jalapeño Peppers, Serrano Peppers, and Cilantro still linked to Salmonella Saintpaul Illnesses in United States and Canada

Posted on July 19, 2008
According to the CDC since April, 1237 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization...

Nebraska Beef E. coli Sickens 49 in Georgia (4), Indiana (1), Kentucky (1), Michigan (20), New York (1), Ohio (21), and Utah (1)

Posted on July 18, 2008
According to the CDC today, state departments of health and agriculture in several states, collaborating local health jurisdictions, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections...

Georgia Finally Joins List of E. coli Outbreak States, CDC Says

Posted on July 17, 2008
No surprise to the folks sitting in the ICU waiting room of the Archbold Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia who I met with today.  Three women in ICU with families at their side – life should not hang in the balance at age 70 after going to a local restaurant you have visited for years...

Kentucky, New York and Indiana added to Ohio and Michigan E. coli Outbreak Linked to Nebraska Beef - Georgia to Follow?

Posted on July 15, 2008
For the last few days I have been in Walker Minnesota (half way between Fargo and Duluth) defending the depositions of two families impacted by E. coli-tainted Nebraska Beef in 2006.  One client suffered acute kidney failure and was on dialysis for nearly three weeks...

One Step Forward for a Better Food Safety Policy

Posted on July 12, 2008
Thanks to Undersecretary for Food Safety (FSIS) Richard Raymond, and Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer for announcing plans to tell the public, which grocery stores and other retailers have received, tainted meat during “Class I” recalls...

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