Food Poisoning in North Palm Beach, Florida Causes Serious Life-Altering Changes
Food poisoning is a common illness which is usually mild, but sometimes can be deadly. Classic symptoms of this disease include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramping. These symptoms occur suddenly (within 48 hours) after consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, bloody stools, dehydration, fever and chills and nervous system damage may follow.
The victim in this Florida food poisoning case was planning a large get together for her family (15 people in all). She traveled to a neighborhood fast food restaurant and purchased enough fried chicken, potato salad and cole slaw to feed all of her relatives. Unfortunately, the victim and most of her relatives became ill and suffered from various symptoms to varying degrees. The victim became violently ill with severe abdominal pain, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach swelling, excruciating head and neck pain, and high fever. She felt so ill in fact, that she literally thought that it was her time to die.
The victim quickly made an appointment with her primary care physician, who immediately had her admitted to JFK Medical Center. From the date of her hospital discharge which was in April, through the end of the year, the victim continued to experience problems with abdominal pain, cramps and diarrhea. In December, her primary physician performed an endoscopic cholangiopancreatogram and subsequently diagnosed acalculus cholecystitis and referred her to a surgeon.
A few days later, she was admitted to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center for abdominal pain. Her surgeon diagnosed biliary dyskinesia and he eventually performed a laproscopic exploratory laparotomy with laproscopic cholecystecomy (gallbladder removal) and operative cholangiogram. Her physician’s report summarizes his professional medical opinions that the victim continues to suffer from a chronic non-specific colitis as a result of the food poisoning incident in April. His report also confirms that she continues to experience intermittent abdominal pain, cramps and diarrhea, all of which are requiring supportive management. Finally, he has confirmed that the food poisoning incident aggravated a pre-existing underlying gallbladder problem and was in fact the catalyst to the surgery to have the gallbladder removed.
Needless to say, this victim’s life and health have been totally upended due to this unfortunate and horrible incident. She can no longer eat any potato salad or chicken and the thought of doing so causes her to get sick. She can no longer enjoy a meal out at a restaurant due to her fears that she will end up with food poisoning again.
The victim in this case had been employed with the same company for several years, had an excellent employment record and earning a good income. Sadly, she was physically unable to work for approximately two months after the food poisoning and upon returning to work, she was terminated due to her lengthy absence due to the food poisoning illness. In addition, despite her extraordinary efforts, she has still not be able to find a job. She lives with her husband and two small children and due to this financial strain, the entire family had to move in with her mother to make ends meet.
As would be expected, this one food poisoning incident has had tremendous impact on her, her husband, and the entire family from a physical, emotional, financial and psychological standpoint. The family contacted Attorney Richard D. Schuler for assistance in this matter and in bringing a lawsuit against the fast food restaurant.
