Nationwide Lawsuit for Those Injured or Killed by Salmonella-Contaminated Eggs
When you hear stories on the news of salmonella poisoning at large restaurant chains or tainted tomatoes being pulled from grocers shelves you probably only give it a passing thought; surely it won't affect you, right? This time it might.
In one of the largest food recalls in the U.S., more than 550 million eggs sold between April and August of this year from two farms in Iowa were found to have the same strain of salmonella.
In September 15, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Wright County Eggs and Hallandale Farms. The FDA has since reported about 2,000 cases of salmonella poisoning that can be traced to the Iowa eggs. Considering over a half-billion eggs were affected, the number of reported illness may seem relatively small, but typically in the U.S. there are only about 50 reported cases of salmonella poisoning each week.
The lawsuit seeks to establish a medical monitoring system for victims and for those potentially at risk. It also sought an order for an immediate inspection, testing, videotaping, and sampling of the premises on the defendants' farms.
The plaintiff class includes anyone who purchased eggs from the defendants between April 9, 2010, and August 21, 2010. Attorneys for the class action plaintiffs expect more than 76,000 class members.
Eggs are one of the most consumed foodstuffs in America, and consumers were advised to check their cartons for certain stamped serial numbers. The rotten eggs were eventually traced to Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, which supplies food wholesalers, distribution centers and numerous companies in the food industry business. As a result, the contaminated eggs spread across the country.
The particular salmonella strain in these eggs is Salmonella Enteriditis, a common strain in the U.S. that can cause infections that spread into the victim's bloodstream, bone marrow and meningeal linings of the brain - causing fatalities or severe and disabling injuries such as endocarditis. Endocarditis is a condition in which the heart valves are damaged.
Survivors may suffer chronic joint pain and reactive arthritis, also known as Reiter's syndrome, which is an inflammatory joint condition characterized by infections of the genital, urinary and gastrointestinal systems.
An ongoing two-year investigation of Wright County Egg's Iowa farm has so far uncovered hundreds of cases of salmonella contamination, with 426 confirmed cases of contamination between September 2008 and this past July involving the same Salmonella Enteriditis strain. Federal investigators have found salmonella bacteria in chicken feed and in walkway areas at the farm along with rodents, piles of manure, uncaged birds and countless flies.
