In a news piece on May 11, 2007, an announcement came out that beef shipped to Virginia (VA) among other states was recalled because of E. coli. Over 100, 000 pounds of beef was accidentally shipped to eight states according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture which appears to have been tainted.
Seven people were known to have been sickened by this ground beef and three had to be hospitalized before they recovered. Symptoms of E. coli include stomach cramps that may be severe. Food poisoning from E. coli contamination can also lead to more serious complications such as kidney failure. If you or a family member is ever made sick by bad food you may have a claim against the store or distributor of the product. Virginia (VA) law is fairly strict on injuries caused by the breach of warranty that food is wholesome and fit for human consumption.
If this happens to you, you should keep all receipts and evidence of your purchase of the product and report the incident to the store that sold it to you. To the extent that you have a serious medical complication that requires hospitalization you should contact a personal injury attorney to see what can be done to claim compensation for the harm. If your symptoms are just stomach cramps and diarrhea that last for only a couple of days and only require a doctor’s visit or two, you may want to resolve your claim directly with insurance company for the store in question without an attorney. It seems like there are more and more reports of this kind of bacterial contamination of food, whether it be in meat or fresh produce. As with so many diseases, the really serious injuries from E. coli contamination typically are in the very young, very old or people who are already weakened for some other reason.
Authored By: John M. Cooper
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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