The CDC reports: Shigellosis is a nationally notifiable diarrheal illness caused by gram-negative bacteria. Shigella infection is spread through fecal-oral transmission and sexual contact. Although most infections are self-limited, antibiotics are indicated for severe illness or to reduce transmission in settings with high risk for spread. Since 2015, a growing proportion of cases has been caused by […]
The Wall Street Journal weighed in today on the FDA’s new safety guidelines for prepared produce. From the article: Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who has sued Dole and other companies over outbreaks related to fresh-cut produce, said the FDA should focus more on outdoor areas, such as ground or surface water, than employee hygiene. […]
As the Monterey County Herald reported today, the Food and Drug Administration has issued its first set of safety guidelines for the way fresh-cut produce companies process bagged salad, apple slices and cut celery sticks. The release of the guidelines follows a scathing November letter in which the FDA urged fresh-cut producers to do more […]
Separating the Chaff from the Wheat: How to determine the strength of a foodborne illness claim – A paper presented at the May 2005 Defense Research Institute meeting on food liability, written by Bill Marler.
E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with lettuce or spinach, specifically the “pre-washed” and “ready-to-eat” varieties sold under various brand and trade names, are by no means a new phenomenon. In October 2003, 13 residents of a California retirement center were sickened and 2 died after eating E. coli-contaminated “pre-washed” spinach. In September 2003, nearly 40 […]
As Jason Cato of the Tribune-Review reported today, checks should start arriving in a few weeks for nearly 5,000 people who claimed part of an $800,000 lawsuit settlement against Chi-Chi’s following a hepatitis A outbreak two years ago at a restaurant in Beaver County. From the article: Though nearly 10,000 people got shots to help […]
Don Hamilton, a Columbian staff writer, reported today that our firm will be representing two families victimized by the recent E. coli outbreak with an eye toward suing Dee Creek Farm, the farm that provided the raw milk that sickened their children. Eighteen people, 15 of them children ages 1 to 13, have been sickened […]
As the Associated Press reported today, nearly 5,000 people who had to get shots to ward off hepatitis A during a food-poisoning outbreak at a western Pennsylvania Chi-Chi’s restaurant two years ago will be mailed checks for $162.23 each next month. A federal judge in Delaware overseeing Chi-Chi’s bankruptcy signed off on the class-action settlement […]
Barbara LaBoe of The Daily News reported today that both the state and an unlicensed Woodland dairy may be sued on behalf of two children sick with E. coli. From the article: Parents of two of the children sickened after drinking unpasteurized milk from Dee Creek Farm asked Seattle lawyer Bill Marler to look into […]
On November 30, Jane Zhang of the Wall Street Journal wrote about the recent influx of trouble that has come from Americans eating their vegetables: More Americans are eating their vegetables. But the healthy trend comes with a risk: Illnesses traced to fresh produce are on the rise. Fruits and vegetables are now responsible for […]
As the L.A. Business Journal reported today, Dole Food Co. Inc. has been sued over the past few weeks by consumers who contracted a serious form of E. coli from its bagged salads, one of the company’s fastest-growing product lines. So far, lawsuits have been filed involving five people in Minnesota and Oregon who suffered […]
Marler Clark filed a third E. coli lawsuit against Dole late Tuesday in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Lori Olson, a Minneapolis resident, and her two minor daughters. The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Olson’s daughters, 15-year-old Amanda Brister, and 11-year-old Amber Brister, became ill […]
Over a dozen people have become ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Oregon and Washington in the last month. The illnesses have now been traced to contaminated parsley consumed in at least two, and possibly more, restaurants. To date no recall has occurred. William Marler of Marler Clark, the Seattle foodborne illness law firm, […]
As Dania Akkad of the Herald Salinas Bureau reported today, legal action is mounting in connection to a recent E. coli outbreak that affected at least 17 people who said they became sick after eating Dole Fresh Vegetable bagged salads. From the article: A lawsuit has been filed against parent company Dole Food Company Inc. […]
Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented thousands of victims of E. coli poisoning, has learned that the Deschutes County Public Health Department is investigating the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that originated at McGrath’s Fish House in Bend. Two cases have been confirmed by the health department, and at least […]
In the last month Marler Clark, LLP PS, has been contacted by victims, mostly parents of young children, of E. coli O157:H7. The victims live in Colorado, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. The food they consumed is primarily hamburger, but lettuce has also been implicated. Outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 […]