You may have the right to sue the SoyNut Butter Company for E. coli if your illness can be linked to one of the company’s I.M. Healthy brand products. If your child was sickened, you may have the right to sue on your child’s behalf.
Our law firm has filed a lawsuit against The SoyNut Butter Company for a child who contracted an E. coli O157:H7 infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome (kidney failure) after eating an I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter product at a daycare. Our young client is one of at least 20 children sickened in this multistate outbreak.
Attorney Fred Pritzker and his Bad Bug Law Team are available to help you and your family. Fred recently won $7.5 million for a child with E. coli-HUS who will most likely need to have a kidney transplant in the future. You can contact Fred and his team by filling out our free online consultation form.
There are several reasons to sue a manufacturer if you contract an E. coli infection in addition to compensation for medical bills, pain, and suffering. Complications of an E. coli HUS illness can include hemolytic anemia, stroke, seizures, pancreatitis, heart problems, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Only an experienced E. coli lawyer can protect your legal rights when you are sickened by a contaminated product.
Questions About Your Case
- Were you diagnosed with an E. coli O157 infection?
- Did you eat any I.M. Healthy soy nut butter product within a week of getting sick?
- What were your symptoms?
- Did you develop hemolytic uremic syndrome?
- Were you hospitalized?
Discuss your answers to these questions with an E. coli lawyer who has experience winning cases such as yours.
23 People are Sick in an Outbreak Associated with I.M. Healthy Products
As of March 21, 2016, the CDC has identified a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157 that is associated with I.M. Healthy Soy Nut Butter products. Details are sketchy at this point, but the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has posted a bit more information about this outbreak. The twenty-three people identified so far live in nine states:
Arizona (4), California (5), Maryland (1), Missouri (12), New Jersey (1), Oregon (6), Virginia (2), Washington (2), and Wisconsin (1).
The Arizona Department of Health Services’ press release says that four children in that state under the age of 5 have been sickened with E. coli O157 infections. All four ate soynut butter-containing products before they got sick. Officials in Arizona are also telling consumers to not eat I.M. healthy brand soynut butter products “to prevent illness.”
The Oregon Health Authority has confirmed that six E. coli O157 patients who live in that state are linked to the national I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter outbreak.
The infections among the dozen people who are sick are “closely related genetically,” which means that the pathogenic bacteria came from the same food source. One patient who lives in Maryland ate I.M. Healthy soy nut butter before getting sick. Officials in Maryland, Arizona, and from the CDC are recommending that people not eat or serve I.M. Healthy nut butter products.
Symptoms of an E. coli Food Poisoning Infection
Symptoms of this infection usually begin within three or four days of exposure to the pathogenic bacteria. These symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody or watery, vomiting, and a mild fever. Some people with this illness must be hospitalized because their symptoms are so serious.
Most people recover on their own after an E. coli infection, but some, especially young children and the elderly, can develop a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, that can be life threatening.
Symptoms of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
The symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndrome include little or no urine output, lethargy, pale skin, easy bruising, and bleeding from the nose or mouth. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria destroy red blood cells, which clog the kidneys and can cause kidney damage and failure.
Patients who develop this complication are often hospitalized for weeks or months. Some of these patients may need a kidney transplant. Others can suffer strokes or seizures that can lead to long term medical conditions and complications.
If the patient is a child, parents must often take extended periods from work to care for them. Our lawyers have represented clients whose children have needed long term dialysis, kidney transplants, and other medical issues.
Should I Join a Class Action Lawsuit?
Class action lawsuits are not generally recommended for food poisoning cases because the circumstances are so different for each client. Class action lawsuits are only filed when those suing have very similar injuries, and are often filed for groups of people who were not seriously ill.
Our attorneys have won multimillion dollar settlements for their clients, including the a $7.55 million E. coli lawsuit settlement. Compensation can be awarded for medical expenses, lost income, emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and wrongful death.
If you were diagnosed with an E. coli infection or hemolytic uremic syndrome after eating I.M. Healthy soy nut butter products, you can discuss your options in a free consultation with a lawyer who has won cases such as yours.