E. coli Lawyer Hopes U.S. Takes Heed of E. coli O111 Outbreak Linked to Raw Beef
A deadly food poisoning outbreak making headlines in Japan involves a type of E. coli not routinely tested for in the United States -- a lesson that national E. coli lawyer Fred Pritzker is hoping will speed policy changes here.
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The current Japanese beef E. coli outbreak involves E. coli O111, one of six prevalent non-O157:H7 strains of E. coli not routinely screened for in the United States even though they produce the same potentially deadly toxin as E. coli O157:H7, which the U.S. government banned from ground beef in 1994. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that these six non-O157:H7 strains cause approximately 113,000 illnesses and 300 hospitalizations annually in the United States, yet to date there are no policies to control them.Pritzker, who represents victims in practically every major outbreak of food poisoning in the U.S., said Japan's tragedy with E. coli O111 could accelerate positive change in the U.S., which has been inching too slowly toward classifying the six non-O157:H7 shiga toxin producing types of E. coli as pathogens that demand pre-market screening.
"Japan's nightmare with E. coli O111 should trigger changes in our own country,'' Pritzker said. "We shouldn't have to wait for a similarly sized disaster to strike here. It's another impetus for our government to get moving.''
The Japan beef E. coli outbreak has killed two six year old boys, a 70-year-old woman and another member of that woman's family. The number of outbreak cases has topped 70, involving at least three Japanese prefectures. Food safety investigators have linked the infectious disease outbreak to Korean-style steak tartar (raw beef) at a restaurant chain. Strains of the pathogen O111 with the virulence to cause life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) were detected among many hospitalized patients.
Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or by contact form. Mr. Pritzker is the founding partner of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a Minneapolis, MN law firm that represents victims of food poisoning nationwide. Mr. Pritzker has won tens of millions for food poisoning victims and has appeared on national and local news programs to discuss foodborne illness lawsuits and food safety.
