Listeria Lawyer Expects Cantaloupe Outbreak Deaths and Illnesses to Grow
Listeria lawyer Fred Pritzker fully expects more deaths and illnesses to be reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak is over, but the latest figures show an increase of 2 deaths and 7 illnesses.
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Pritzker is founder and president of national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., which represents Jensen Farms Listeria victims, including the families of two people who died. A total of 25 deaths and 123 illnesses have been reported as of October 18, making this the deadliest food poisoning outbreak in the U.S. in 25 years. Colorado now has six deaths and there are two in New York.
The last major Listeria outbreak was in 2002, when Pritzker was the lead lawyer on a run of Listeria lawsuits that resulted in multiple settlements of more than $1 million each. Experience shows that new cases can be identified months after contaminated food is recalled because the bacteria can be very slow to show itself in symptoms. Consequently, more people will be filing a cantaloupe lawsuit.
The latest CDC outbreak has information important to the litigation, including confirmation that laboratory testing by the Food and Drug Administration has identified Listeria monocytogenes outbreak strains in samples from equipment and cantaloupe at the Jensen Farms’ packing facility in Granada, Colorado
FDA is working closely with CDC, the firms involved, and public health authorities in states where illnesses occurred to determine the exact cause of contamination, but the investigation clearly is centered on the Jensen packing shed. Was the facility a breeding ground for Listeria, which can grow at cool temperatures and spread via water? What kind of pathogen testing was going on in the packing and melon-washing rooms to protect consumers? Negligence has been a factor in many outbreaks of food poisoning and federal authorities have confirmed over and over that deadly episodes of Listeria and other enteric bacteria in the food supply are quite preventable.
For a free Listeria consultation, call PritzerOlsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and Fred or another staff lawyer will promptly return your call. Our firm is one of the very few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we are actively involved in numerous efforts to prevent the spread of food poisoning.
