Bill Marler, food safety advocate and foodborne attorney since 1993, whose Seattle based law firm, Marler Clark, has been contacted by dozens of victims of the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to Wendy’s restaurants in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, called on Wendy’s to pay the out of pocket medical bills and lost wages of all individuals who became ill.
“We know that at least 84 people became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating E. coli-tainted lettuce served at Wendy’s and those numbers will likely rise in the coming week,” Marler said. “The cost of treating victims of E. coli infections can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, or in a severe case, like hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. These families need Wendy’s to do more than promise to cooperate in the investigation into this outbreak. They need to know that Wendy’s intends to fulfill their corporate responsibility by looking out for their customers,” added Marler.
Marler noted that over the last two decades in other outbreak-situations, companies such as Chi-Chi’s, Dole, Jack in the Box, Conagra, Odwalla, Cargill and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.
Since the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak in 1993, where Bill recovered $15,600,000 for one of its victims, Bill has represented thousands of E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Hepatitis A and other foodborne illness victims against the largest corporations in the US and around the world. Total recoveries on behalf of victims are in excess of $850,000,000.
Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses. He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.