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Peanut Corporation of America -- Another Madoff?

By PritzkerLaw

"What about the rights of the Nellie Napiers? Who's protecting them?

By Fred Pritzker

MEDINA, Ohio -- Feb. 15, 2009 -- I represent the families of three elderly women who died as a result of complications from Salmonella contracted from peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA).

 These blameless seniors managed to survive all the vagaries of age, disease and trauma only to succumb to an agonizing and irreversible shut down of their vital organs occasioned by consumption of contaminated peanut products. 

PCA, the company at the heart of this national tragedy, has already sought protection from its creditors under federal bankruptcy laws. The company’s president, Stewart Parnell, has invoked his right against self-incrimination in light of the criminal charges that will likely follow.

The company’s insurer, Hartford, commenced litigation seeking to protect its rights by claiming its multi-million dollar policy does not apply to the losses suffered by my clients and the hundreds, if not thousands, of other victims of this outbreak. Everybody’s rights are being protected, it seems, except those of the victims who suffered the greatest losses of all: Their health and in some cases, their lives.

This isn’t right. Take the case of Nellie Napier, an Ohio woman who lived in a nursing home and died on January 26, infected with Salmonella.

Abandoned by her husband, this mother of five children under the age of 18 went to work at a local company in 1967 earning less than a dollar per hour. She retired from the same company 23 years later never having made much money. Her “pension” was less than $100 per month, but she never once accepted government assistance.

Until Nellie entered an assisted living facility and later a nursing home, she lived for thirteen years with one of her children. A newspaper account of her life and death by Salmonella carried the headline: “Cleveland Indians fan and hero to her children, not just Salmonella victim.”

What about the rights of the Nellie Napiers of this country? Who’s protecting them?

Food consumers have a sacred pact with the purveyors and regulators of food products: We will buy from you, but you must protect us from the invisible pathogens that we are powerless to detect.

Stewart Parnell of PCA made millions in the peanut business. He was a respected member of the peanut producing community. In that respect, he is no different than Bernard Madoff -- a trust abuser who  invoked his rights as his customers lament the lack of theirs. The difference is that Madoff's customers only lost money. Nellie Napier never had much and now she’s dead. 

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on February 15, 2009 (boomark / email).