Lawsuit Filed Against NH Company After E. coli Outbreak

PORTLAND, ME — A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of 9-year-old boy against New Hampshire beef manufacturers over a recent E. coli outbreak, according to a press release. Sarah Monks, a York County, ME, resident, is suing PT Farm LLC in North Haverhill, after an E. coli O157:H7 outbreaktied to the company made her son so ill that he required hospitalization. Monks and her son are represented by Peter Felmly, of Drummond Woodsum, Attorneys at Law in Portland, ME, and food safety advocate William D. Marler, managing attorney at Marler Clark LLP, the Food Safety Law Firm, of Seattle, WA.

On June 13, 2016, Monks prepared PT Farm beef, purchased at Maine Meat in Kittery, ME, for son. Five days later, he began experiencing the vomiting, diarrhea, and fever that typify an E. coli infection. The child was hospitalized for multiple days at both the York area hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts. Monks’ son is one of 14 identified victims of this outbreak tied to PT Farm, with cases in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine ranging from June 15 to July 10, 2016.

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The USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services tracked the outbreak back to a single slaughter date at PT Farm. On July 26, 2016, FSIS announced that PT Farm was recalling approximately 8,800 pounds of potentially contaminated raw beef products.

“It is the responsibility of all food manufacturers to protect their customers against foodborne illness,” said Bill Marler, premier food safety attorney in the US and representative for the plaintiff. “This means 365 days a year. All of the illnesses in this outbreak can be traced back to a single slaughter day. This almost perfect record was enough to cause suffering for many, including children. Being almost perfect simply isn’t good enough when it comes to food safety.”

An estimated 73,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7 occur each year in the United States. Approximately 2,000 people are hospitalized, and 60 people die as a direct result of E. coli O157:H7 infections and complications, including hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and kidney failure. Symptoms of E. coli include the sudden onset of abdominal pain and severe cramps, followed by watery, sometimes bloody, diarrhea. Vomiting can also occur, but there is usually no fever.

A severe, life-threatening complication of E. coli O157:H7 is Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Although most people recover from this infection, about 5 to 10 percent of infected individuals goes on to develop HUS. E. coli O157:H7 is responsible for more than 90 percent of the cases of HUS that develop in North America.

Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $600 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation, and has litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products. The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s.

Submitted by Colleen McMahon.