Health Law

Illinois Woman Sickened in Subway Salmonella Outbreak Files Lawsuit

By Bill Marler

As the count of those sickened in the Illinois Subway Restaurant Salmonella outbreak hit 97, a Salmonella lawsuit was filed against Doctor's Associates, Inc., the restaurant chain's parent company. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Will County resident Alicea Bush-Bailey by Drew Falkenstein of food safety law firm Marler Clark and by Gary A. Newland of the Illinois firm Newland, Newland, & Newland.

On May 12, Ms. Bush-Bailey bought a sandwich from the Subway restaurant at 1248 N. Lake Street in Aurora, IL. By that evening, she was experiencing symptoms including nausea, abdominal cramping and diarrhea, all of which worsened quickly and required her to seek medical care at the emergency room. She was treated for dehydration, severe abdominal pain and nausea, and returned home with medication.

I'm not surprised that the number of ill in this outbreak keeps climbing,' Mr. Falkenstein said. 'The CDC estimates that for every confirmed Salmonella illness in an outbreak, another 38.6 are never counted. In order for someone to be listed as an outbreak illness, they have to go to the doctor and get tested. Many people stay home and just try to get through their illness on their own, and never know that they have Salmonella or that they are part of an outbreak.'

Mr. Falkenstein and Marler Clark recently represented over 80 victims of the outbreak of Shigella at a Chicago-area Subway restaurant earlier this year.

'It's unusual to see two outbreaks at the same chain in the same area in so short a time frame,' continued Falkenstein. 'Ms. Bush-Bailey and many other customers entrusted their health and safety to these restaurants, and that trust was not honored.'

Consumer Resource: Downloadable Family Food Safety Guide for Salmonella (PDF)

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on June 21, 2010 (boomark / email).