Yes, your family can sue for wrongful death if a spouse, child or parent dies from Salmonella poisoning. Our lawyers have won these kinds of lawsuits and put some food processors out of business for selling deadly food. You can contact our law firm for a free consultation with a Salmonella lawyer using the form below.
One of our clients, the son of a loving mother who died after eating tainted peanut butter, testified before Congress to get a food safety law passed.
Salmonella food poisoning is preventable. In every case we handle involving processors, there is evidence of unsanitary conditions. In one case, a company executive was told the product was tainted with this deadly pathogen, and he said to ship it anyway. It is not right for corporations to profit from unsafe food.
Attorneys at Pritzker Hageman have filed lawsuits in Iowa against Fareway Stores and Triple T Specialty Meats for people diagnosed with Salmonella food poisoning after eating Fareway chicken salad. 240 people in Iowa were sickened in this outbreak. One of them tragically died.
If Your Loved One Died from Salmonella Contact Food Safety Attorney Fred Pritzker
10 Things to Know about Salmonella Wrongful Death
When food contaminated with Salmonella bacteria kills someone, the family has a “wrongful death” claim and can sue the company (or companies) responsible for the contamination that caused the death. Below are 10 things you should know:
- You can sue a restaurant even if you do not know exactly what food product made you sick;
- If the exact food product is determined, you may be able to sue the company that made that product, the restaurant that served it, and others;
- Companies may be legally responsible even if they did not know the food was contaminated;
- If a company knew the food was contaminated or the conditions were extremely unsanitary, the family may be able to get “punitive damages”, an amount of money that punishes bad behavior;
- The family sues as a unit, with one person appointed by the court to make decisions on the family’s behalf during the lawsuit;
- Money won is shared, generally with most of it going to the spouse and dependent children;
- In most states, an adult child can sue, as can a parent whose adult child was wrongfully killed;
- Parents can take action on a dependent child’s behalf;
- There may be more than one state in which to file a lawsuit, and your lawyer will have to choose which is best for your case;
- There are very few lawyers in the United States who have won these cases.
How Can Salmonella be Fatal?
Salmonella quickly colonizes in one’s intestines after consumption of contaminated food. This infection, called salmonellosis, can cause severe diarrhea and very painful abdominal cramping. In some cases, salmonellosis can develop into bacteremia, an infection of the blood that can carry the bacterium to other parts of the body and cause one or more of the following focal infections:
- Osteomyelitis (infection of the bones or bone marrow)
- Meningitis (infection of the meninges surrounding the brain and spinal cord)
- Pyelonepritis (a urinary tract infection that infects the kidneys that may be referred to as urosepsis when severe and may be called pyelitis)
- Endocarditis (infection of the endocardium, the inner layer of the heart that may include infection of the heart valves)
- Myocarditis (infection of the heart muscle)
- Vascular infections (infection of the blood vessels)
- Pancreatitis (infection of the pancreas)
- Pneumonia (infection of the lungs)
It is often one or more of the above secondary infections that is fatal.