E coli Law Firm
Practice Areas

MN Personal Injury Newsletter

Other Practice Areas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

Freshway Foods Lettuce Lawsuit

The following information on the Freshway Foods lettuce lawsuit is provided by Pritzker Olsen attorneys, who have appeared on CBS News, Fox News and numerous local stations discussing food poisoning litigation and food safety. To contact Pritzker Olsen law firm about a Freshway Foods lettuce lawsuit, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit the firm's free case consultation form.

Freshway Foods Lettuce Lawsuit Update:

Food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen has been retained by a freshman at Daemen College who is suffering from E. coli HUS tied to the Freshway Foods E. coli O145 lettuce outbreak. 

The student is one of at least 12 individuals hospitalized  in a romaine lettuce outbreak that has sickened at least 23 individuals in Ohio, Michigan, New York and now Tennessee. She also is one of three who have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening disease that can cause kidney failure, central nervous system damage, bleeding in the brain, pancreatitis and other serious medical conditions.

FREE CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY AT PRITZKER OLSEN >>

Freshway Foods Lettuce Lawsuit Liability

Both epidemiological and microbiological evidence has linked Romaine lettuce supplied by Freshway Foods, a Sidney, Ohio firm to an outbreak of E. coli O145 infections that sickened over 50 people in Michigan, Ohio, New York and Tennessee, including students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ohio State University in Columbus, Daemen College in Amherst, New York, and middle school and high school students in Wappinger Falls. Three people sickened in this outbreak have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Our law firm is representing one. The other two are students in Wappinger Falls--a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old.

The epidemiological evidence includes interviews with the outbreak victims regarding where and what they ate in the days prior to becoming symptomatic for an E. coli infection. The evidence gathered pointed to Romain lettuce that had been supplied by Freshway Foods to college campuses, restaurants, etc. The lettuce was sent shredded and packaged in giant plastic bags, the perfect growing environment for E. coli bacteria.

The microbiological evidence includes analysis of E. coli O145 isolates from those sickened in the outbreak and a finding of E. coli O145 in an unopened bag of Freshway Foods shredded lettuce obtained from a facility associated with the outbreak by New York health officials. This is the "smoking gun" that clearly establishes Freshway Foods shredded Romaine lettuce as the source of this outbreak.

Investigators are using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), a type of DNA fingerprint analysis of E. coli bacteria obtained through diagnostic testing to identify cases of E. coli O145 that might be part of this outbreak. This testing is done in public health laboratories as part of the PulseNet network.

Investigators have established a common definition of confirmed and probable cases related to this outbreak:

Confirmed cases are persons with:

(1) E. coli O145 infection, or E. coli infection with O Group pending, AND
(2) an illness onset on or after March 1, 2010, AND
(3) a DNA fingerprint matching the outbreak strain; AND
(4) an epidemiologic link to the outbreak.

Probable cases are persons with an epidemiologic link to the outbreak and

(1) E. coli O145 infection with an illness onset on or after March 1, 2010 regardless of DNA fingerprint pattern, AND/OR
(2) hemolytic-uremic syndrome; AND/OR
(3) a laboratory isolate positive for Shiga toxin 2 [stx2] or isolate positive for Shiga toxin, but toxin type is unknown or pending.

Possible liable parties in this lettuce E. coli outbreak include:

  • Freshway Foods
  • Food service companies providing services at the Univerisity of Michigan, Ohio State University and Daemen College
  • Restaurants that served Romaine lettuce supplied by Freshway Foods
  • The grower of the Romaine lettuce

Freshway Foods Lettuce Lawsuit Victim Compensation

Compensation for E. coli victims generally includes amounts for the following:

  • Medical expenses
  • Lost income
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress
  • Disability
  • Loss of quality of life
  • Other damages

E. coli infection can develop into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and/or thrombotic thrombocytopenic pupura (TTP). When this happens, the amount of money sought from liable parties should reflect the severity of the illness. 

Free Consultation with an E. coli Lawyer

For more information about a Freshway Foods lettuce lawsuit, contact an E. coli lawyer by calling 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or submitting our consultation form for a free consultation. We do not get paid unless you win.

Keywords: Freshway Foods lettuce lawsuit, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Freshway Foods class action lawsuit, ecoli lawsuit, lettuce E coli lawsuit, Freshway Foods lettuce E. coli.

 


Free Case Consultation





Logos
Fred Pritzker on Comcast Newsmakers

Fred Pritzker on Twitter

Fred Pritzker is listed in The Best Lawyers in America

 
 

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.