Food Poisoning Law Blog

An article by Joel Rubin, a reporter with the the Los Angeles Times provides an insightful look at a foodborne outbreak from the point of view of a victim of the outbreak. In this case, Mr. Rubin got Salmonella poisoning from hollandaise sauce served at one of his favorite restaurants. Here is his account of waking up with Salmonella:

My eyes popped open sometime after midnight and I knew I was in trouble.

This was not a typical bellyache. It radiated from my gut. Whatever it was, I could feel it in my toes. I tossed about, trying helplessly to fall back asleep.

Beads of sweat rose suddenly on my forehead. A sharp chill hit me. My teeth clattered, my body shuddered.

Then things got bad.

I bolted for the bathroom.

. . . When a friend half-dragged me into Cedars-Sinai hospital about 3 a.m., I was a mess. The unrelenting bursts of diarrhea and vomiting dehydrated me to the point that I was having trouble walking and keeping my head upright.

After a half-hour wait, a nurse led me to a bed. With my frequent sprints for the bathroom, a fever that was hovering around 103.5 degrees and the knife fight going on in my gut, I was presenting the classic signs of food poisoning, but the doctor sent off vials of my blood to rule out anything more serious.

By the time I shuffled out seven hours later, I had had three liters of saline water (nearly 7 pounds) and some top-shelf antibiotics pumped into me. The doctor discharged me with a vague diagnosis of an infected intestinal tract and told me to call in a few days to see what the lab tests revealed, if anything.

Being a reporter, he turned lemons into lemonade and wrote about his experience, the investigation into the outbreak by health officials, and the experience of the owners of the restaurant. The article, “Making the right sick call,” can be found on the Los Angeles Times website.