December 11, 2019
Posted by: OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers
OFT Food Safety Lawyers have filed the first E. Coli lawsuit against Fresh Express Inc. believed related to an ongoing multistate outbreak. Attorneys Ryan Osterholm, Brendan Flaherty, and Lindsay Lien Rinholen filed the amended complaint naming Fresh Express on Tuesday, December 10th, 2019, in Milwaukee County Court in Wisconsin. The lawsuit (2019CV009273) was filed on behalf of a resident of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Our client, a 34-year-old college professor, suffered an E. coli infection after consuming a Fresh Express “Sunflower Crisp Chopped Salad Kid” believed to have been purchased at a Pick ‘n Save grocery store in Kenosha in early November. After experiencing stomach cramping and diarrhea, she went to the Emergency Room and tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Despite medical intervention, her conditioned worsened and she was admitted to the hospital and eventually placed in the Intensive Care Unit after developing a form of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). She spent weeks in the hospital before recovering, though the effect of the illness will likely effect her for the rest of her life according to Osterholm:
This is really serious stuff. This is not like being sick for a day or two. People’s lives are changing over this. You’re going to have your life before this and your life after this. These people are tremendously ill. HUS is a lifetime thing. This isn’t something you just get better from.
OFT Law has been tracking this outbreak since early November. Anyone who may have been sickened is encouraged to contact us for for a free consultation.
