Our law firm has filed a lawsuit against Chipotle Mexican Grill on behalf of their client who was sickened with Salmonella food poisoning after eating there. The lawsuit (0:15-cv-03668) was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on September 14, 2015. You can read the Complaint filed in the case here.
Their client ate at the Chipotle restaurant in Maplewood, Minnesota, located at 3095 White Bear Avenue North, on August 28, 2015. She started feeling ill on August 31, 2015. Her symptoms continued to worsen, so she visited her doctor on several occasions. She was diagnosed with a Salmonella infection in early September.
Noted food safety attorney Fred Pritzker said, “Our Salmonella litigation team is one of only a few in the country that represents Salmonella victims nationwide. The insurance companies involved in outbreaks know us and know we can’t be fooled into accepting bad settlements.” Mr. Pritzker has more than 37 years of experience representing people sickened with food poisoning throughout the United States.
The Minnesota Department of Health has linked a Salmonella outbreak in Minnesota to 17 Chipotle restaurants in that state. Thirty-four of thirty-six people sickened in this outbreak who have been interviewed by public health officials stated that they ate at a Chipotle restaurant in the days before they got sick. Pulsed field-gel electrophoresis testing determined that the bacterial DNA from patient stool samples matches or has very similar fingerprints. MDH has linked this outbreak to Chipotle restaurants because the number sickened who ate there is statistically significant.
Our law firm continues to investigate this outbreak. MDH has stated that the last illness was reported on September 2, 2015. Since it can take a few weeks between the time a Salmonella illness is diagnosed and when it is reported to state officials, this outbreak will likely grow.
In addition, since Salmonella illnesses are underreported to officials and to doctors, it is likely that this outbreak is very large. The multiplier epidemiologists use in a Salmonella outbreak is 30.3. That means that for every case reported to public health officials, thirty cases are not reported. Using the multiplier, there could be at least 1,363 people in Minnesota sickened in this outbreak.
Salmonella bacteria cause illness characterized by symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps, fever, chills, headache, and muscle cramps. The illness usually begins six to seventy-two hours after exposure to the pathogenic bacteria.
Most people recover within four to seven days, but some people become so ill they must seek medical attention. About 20% of all Salmonella patients are hospitalized as a result of their illness. In this Minnesota outbreak, at least 45 people are sick, and 5 of those patients have been hospitalized.
If you ate at a Chipotle restaurant and have experienced these symptoms, please see your doctor and call our nationally recognized attorneys for help. The long-term complications of a Salmonella infection can be serious, including heart disease, reactive arthritis, and irritable bowel syndrome. It is important that you protect your legal rights.