Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Yes. A Shigella Lawyer can help you get compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and the harm caused by your Shigella infection. Shigella bacteria cause an infection called shigellosis. Shigella cause an estimated 450,000 infections in the United States each year and an estimated $93 million in direct medical costs. If you or a loved one has suffered due to Shigella food poisoning then you’re in need of a qualified Shigella Lawyer who will advocate on your behalf. Contact our experienced Shigella Lawyers at The Lange Law Firm, PLLC for a free consultation today.
Shigella is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and genetically closely related to E. coli.
Yes. Shigella is a type of food poisoning – also called bacillary dysentery. Dysentery meaning diarrhea that contains blood or mucus.
People get infected with shigella when they come in contact with and swallow small amounts of bacteria from the stool of a person who is infected with shigella.
Symptoms usually start 1–2 days after infection and last 7 days. In some cases, bowel habits (frequency and consistency of stool) do not return to normal for several months.
Very! Shigella spread easily; it takes just a small number of bacteria to make someone ill.
People with a Shigella infection can spread the infection to others for several weeks after their diarrhea ends.
Shigella is found in the stool (feces) of infected people, in food or water contaminated by an infected person, and on surfaces that have been touched by infected people. Shigellosis often occurs in toddlers who are not fully toilet-trained. Family members and playmates of children infected with Shigella are at high risk of becoming infected. Shigella can spread easily in environments such as day care facilities.
People become infected with Shigella by:
Seek medical attention. It is also a good idea to ask your doctor to order a stool sample.
Since there are many causes of diarrhea, a lab test may be needed to figure out whether you have shigellosis. Your doctor may ask you to give a stool sample to see whether you have shigella bacteria.
The lab can run more tests to find out which antibiotic would be the most effective.
Healthcare providers may prescribe antibiotics for people with severe cases of shigellosis to help them get better faster. However, some antibiotics are not effective against certain types of Shigella. Healthcare providers can order laboratory tests to determine which antibiotics are likely to work. Tell your healthcare provider if you do not get better within a couple of days after starting antibiotics. They can do more tests to learn whether your type of Shigella bacteria can be treated effectively with the antibiotic you are taking. If not, your doctor may prescribe another type of antibiotic.
Shigellosis can cause dehydration because of the diarrhea. This condition can be very dangerous for elderly people and babies.
Sometimes, infection with Shigella bacteria can produce these complications:
Typical defendants can include a restaurant if the contaminated food was consumed there, a supermarket if the tainted item was bought there, or the host of the gathering where the infected food was provided, and the manufacturer of the food. If the contaminated food was sold to you, then it would be considered a defective product and the defendant would be pursued under the strict-liability defective product theory. A common law negligence claim would be used against the defendants that did not sell the food to you.
If your doctor hasn’t already, then you should notify your local health department. Contact information for your local health department by state can be found here. Your illness should be reported within one week of it developing and the form to fill out is available in paper form by calling your local health department. If none of these options are feasible or in case of an emergency, you may report your food poisoning illness directly to the state office.
After seeing a doctor and getting confirmation that you have contracted Shigella, often that is enough in and of itself to have a claim. Under the law food is a product, so contaminated food would be considered a defective product. There are food safety laws in place that require the food processor or manufacturer, as well as the restaurant or retailer to exercise reasonable care when handling food that’s for sale.
Well, what if they broke those rules or chose not to follow them? Their negligence significantly increases the likelihood of you having a case, allowing you the right to hold them liable by filing a defective product liability claim against them. The strength of your case will also depend on how ill you were. If you were hospitalized or suffered any permanent damage then you would have a very strong claim. Contact a Shigella lawyer today to explore your legal options during a free consultation.
You have the right to sue a business, whether it be a food distributor, grocery store, or restaurant, if they are the cause of your Shigella poisoning. Under the legal theories of negligence, strict products liability, and breach of warranty you may be within your rights to seek compensation.
A company in the business of selling food has a duty to exercise reasonable care. A restaurant or manufacturer has a duty to produce and/or serve safe products (food) for the consumers in order to avoid potential harm. For example, if a restaurant is in breach of that duty by way of unsafe food practices, in the manner of storing food in unsanitary conditions or failing to keep the kitchen clean thus causing you injury, then there may be enough elements present for a negligence claim.
What can be difficult in these cases is that it must be proved that the unsafe food you were served or bought was the direct cause of your Shigella infection. This can be especially difficult to prove if you had eaten any other food that same day. Seeking medical care immediately after becoming ill can help with identifying the source. The degree of your Shigella infection may also determine whether or not a negligence claim is worth pursuing.
Under this theory, a business can be liable for selling contaminated food. In this type of case, it must be proven that the food served or purchased was both infected and unreasonably dangerous as well as the cause of illness. The way this theory differs from negligence is mainly that there is no requirement to show a lack of reasonable care. The companies that can be held liable may include all involved in the chain of distribution such as the manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, and retailer.
There are implied warranties that a product sold will meet the consumer’s expectations. In a contaminated food case, the infected buyer can claim that the product did not meet their ordinary expectation of safe food. An implied warranty can apply to all involved throughout the chain of distribution as well.
Under the statute of limitations in Texas, you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit within two years of the incident.
Focus on your recovery and when you are able to, create a written record of the days before you contracted Shigella poisoning. Include the following information:
Your doctor may have already reported your Shigellosis to the local health department, but if not then you may notify them and also find out if there have been any other recent Shigella poisonings reported.
Also speak to an experienced Shigella lawyer immediately so that you are aware of your rights and so they may be protected. A qualified Shigella lawyer will also help by investigating the facts surrounding your case and the preserving of evidence.
Finding and proving the source of your Shigella food poisoning is extremely important to your claim, but can be difficult if yours is an individual case and not part of an outbreak. This is because it can take anywhere from 6 to 48 hours for symptoms of salmonellosis to appear. Seeking medical care immediately can help as there is testing that can be done to confirm that you do have Shigella poisoning. If you have leftover food, preserve it, as it can be tested as well to see if your illness came from that product. Your memory in regards to what, where, and when you ate in the days leading up to your illness as well as an attorney conducting a thorough investigation can also play a huge role in pinpointing the contaminated food.
Once you or your doctor notify the local heath department, an investigation will likely be conducted and they are able to test the food, if available, at a molecular level in order to discover the genetic strain you have been infected with.
If there are numerous reports of other people becoming ill, then it may be an outbreak. In this instance, a traceback investigation will be conducted by health officials to find the common point between each case.
Have you or a loved one suffered from Shigella poisoning after falling prey to unsafe food practices? If so, our experienced Shigella lawyer at The Lange Law Firm, PLLC is eager to help. Speak to a Shigella lawyer today and receive a free case evaluation to see you have a Shigella Lawsuit.