William Marler, a food safety advocate and attorney whose Seattle law firm, Marler Clark, has been contacted by three victims of an E. coli outbreak traced to a Lake Forest, California, Souplantation restaurant, called on Souplantation to pay the medical bills of all individuals who became ill with E. coli infections as part of the outbreak.
?We know that at least seven people became ill with E. coli infections after eating at Souplantation, and three of them were hospitalized; one 12 year old girl is still in ICU.? Marler said.
?It is only right that Souplantation covers the medical expenses of its customers.?
The Orange County Health Care Agency continues its investigation into the source of the E. coli outbreak, and has not yet identified a particular food item that is associated with illness. Two of the three people who were hospitalized with E. coli infections have been released; one child remains hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure.
?The cost of treating victims of E. coli infections can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, or in a severe case, even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,? Marler continued. ?These families need Souplantation to do more than promise to cooperate in the investigation into this outbreak. They need to know that Souplantation intends to fulfill its corporate responsibility to looking out for its customers.?
Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations companies such as Chi-Chi?s, Dole, Jack in the Box, Con Agra, Odwalla, and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.