A small child in Southern California contracted campylobacter, a strain of E. coli, after drinking raw milk.
The progression was simple enough. The raw milk came from a long established producer in California; purchased through a natural foods market in the local area here on March 2nd. By 2 am the next morning the boy is sick. He gets progressively worse and on March 5th his parents take him to emergency. The following day the family follows up with the pediatrician. When the hospital and family doctor lab reports arrive, they agree: Campylobacter strains of E. coli are the culprit. In short order the health department calls to investigate. By March 14, the Natural Foods store called to let the family know that all the stock of raw milk has been removed.
Finally, ten days after the child goes to the emergency room, the manufacturer calls to ask questions. The father, instead of fielding the call, wisely sought our counsel first.
Our initial research noted that very little was in the news about raw milk poisoning. Who knows why certain stories and incidents never come to light in the main media, but in short order we discovered an undercurrent:
- The producing farm faced a national total product recall for the same tainted product almost exactly two years ago in March of 2010.
- Their prime distributor, Whole Foods Markets dropped them completely in that incident.
- The only California competitor of the producer had an incident in late 2011 where five young children, spread throughout the state of California, suffered from E. coli simultaneously. Lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the victims. A total product recall and hold on new distribution are still in force.
- Last month, the producer of our client’s raw milk sparked a currently ongoing investigation by the California Department of Public Health. However, their product continued to be distributed.
- Public Health is now investigating our client’s incident.
On behalf of the boy who consumed this tainted raw milk, we are seeking compensation for his bodily injury from the responsible parties – including special economic damages for medical expenses incurred to treat symptoms, nursing care, and any additional out of pocket expenses related to treatment – up to now and any in the future. As well the child will be seeking general/non-economic damages for pain, suffering, emotional or mental distress, any ongoing changes in his system caused by the infection.
Organic foods are generally good, but by their very nature they must be monitored much more carefully and closely since there is a fine line between the benefits and the dangers.
If you or a loved one has suffered an illness from food poisoning please contact our legal team today. We offer free consultations to California food poisoning victims.
John Bisnar (A near vegan, vegetarian)
SLS Consulting