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Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

Wisconsin E. coli:
Attorney for Green County E. coli Victims

HUS E. coli LawsuitE. coli attorneys Fred Pritzker and Brendan Flaherty, lead attorneys for our E. coli poisoning cases, have settled cases in Wisconsin involving personal injury and wrongful death. They are now investigating an E. coli outbreak in Green County, Wisconsin that has resulted in the loss of one young life. Nine people were sickened, and two of them contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

Pritzker Olsen attorneys have a national E. coli litigation practice, and have won millions for victims of outbreaks involving food manufacturers, restaurants and others. To contact our attorneys, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online form for a free consultation. We are not paid unless you win.

Wisconsin E. coli Outbreak Investigation

E. coli investigations involve both epidemiological and micribiological evidence. When there is an outbreak in Wisconsin, the local health department (usually a county) initiates an investigation by interviewing people sickened and their families, getting stool samples of people sickened to test them for E. coli O157:H7 and taking environmental samples. In some cases the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the FDA and the CDC get involved. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is considered one of the best health departments in the country.

Victim interviews to determine if there is a common food source are considered epidemiological evidence. Testing done to determine if the pathogen involved is E. coli and if most of the people were sickened by the same strain of E. coli (PFGE results) are considered microbiological evidence. All of this evidence collected by local, state and federal health officials is generally obtainable to use for a lawsuit for money damages.

E. coli Victim Compensation

Compensation for E. coli victims and their families depends on the facts of the case, the insurance policies involved, the applicable federal and Wisconsin laws and other factors. Compensation may include amounts for the following:

  • Hospital bills and other medical expenses
  • Cost of care
  • Lost income (in the case of a child with E. coli, the parents may seek compensation for this)
  • Pain and suffering, which includes amounts for physical pain, emotional distress, disability, loss of quality of life

If the E. coli infection was fatal, the family can sue under Wisconsin wrongful death laws for certain expenses, loss of care and companionship and other damages.

Our attorneys have successfully represented E. coli vicitms who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and/or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). HUS is characterized by damage and destruction of the red blood cells, which leads to a lower than normal number of red blood cells (a condition called anemia), blood clots, and damage to blood vessel walls. Complications of HUS are severe and can include the following:

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) occurs when too many platelets are destroyed. With TTP, tiny thrombi (blood clots) form in blood vessels throughout the body, but particularly in the central nervous system (CNS) and kidneys. Because the formation of the thrombi (blood clots) uses an abnormally high number of platelets, the number of platelets in the bloodstream decreases to dangerously low levels. TTP can cause the following:

  • Stroke
  • Seizures
  • Coma
  • Heart arythmia
  • Hemolytic anemia
  • Heart failure
  • Acute and chronic renal failure (kidney failure)
  • Severe abdominal pain
  • Pancreatitis (can include glucose intolerance)
  • Enlarged liver
  • Perforated colon
  • Hypertension
  • Death

Contact Attorney Fred Pritzker

Wisconsin E. coli Lawsuit

Where your E. coli lawsuit is filed depends on the facts of the case. It may be filed in Wisconsin or another state and in state or federal court. An attorney should make this decision.

The federal district court system in Wisconsin is divided into the U. S. District Court Western District of Wisconsin and the U. S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin:

  • The Western District of Wisconsin is comprised of the following counties: Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo,Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Grant, Green, Iowa, Iron, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, La Crosse, Lafayette, Lincoln, Marathon, Monroe, Oneida, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Price, Richland, Rock, Rusk, Sauk, St. Croix, Sawyer, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Washburn, and Wood.
  • The Eastern District of Wisconsin is comprised of the Green Bay and Milwaukee Divisions. The Green Bay division includes the following counties: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara and Winnebago. The Milwaukee division includes Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Kenosha, Marquette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukeesha counties.

The Wisconsin circuit courts are the state’s trial courts. Currently, there are 249 circuit court judges in Wisconsin. The circuit courts are divided into branches with at least one branch in every county, with the exception of six counties that are paired off and share judges. The paired counties are: Buffalo/Pepin, Florence/Forest, and Shawano/Menominee. The first two pairs are each staffed by a single judge who travels between the courthouses; Menominee County is a federal reservation and both judges for this circuit are located in Shawano. Of the remaining circuits, 26 have a single judge and the largest circuit is Milwaukee County with 47 judges.

E. coli Attorney Free Consultation

The E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Olsen have extensive experience with E. coli O157:H7 cases.  They have a national reputation and have been interviewed by The Associated Press, CNN, CBS, FOX, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lawyers USA and others.  Attorney Fred Pritzker is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Wisconsin Locations: Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Wausau, Hudson, Northern Wisconsin, Eastern Wisconsin, Western Wisconsin.


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This is attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The result of each case is determined by the specific facts and the applicable law.