Health Law

E. coli victim out of coma, recovering

By Marler Clark LLP

20-year-old Stephanie Smith awoke from nine weeks in a medically-induced coma shortly before Christmas.  Smith became ill with an E. coli infection in September after eating a contaminated hamburger, and has since been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome.  Britt Johnsen from the St. Cloud Times wrote about the girl's illness:

Doctors aren’t sure if she’ll ever make a full recovery. But next week they hope to move her from the intensive care unit to a neurology recovery unit, said her mother, Sharon Smith.

“I’m a little scared. I just hope her mind’s OK, for her sake,” she said.

Smith, who was a Just For Kix dance instructor, got sick after she ate ground beef that was part of a Sam’s Club recall. She was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which happens when E. coli toxins enter the bloodstream.

WCCO's John Lauritsen also covered Stephanie's story:

"The last time I was there, which was a couple days ago, she cried when I left. She's moving her fingers and she winks now," said Sharon Smith [Stephanie's mom].

Every little movement Stephanie Smith makes is a step in the right direction. Especially considering that during the Thanksgiving holiday doctors told Sharon Smith they couldn't do any more for her daughter. Until recently, every time they would try and take her out of her coma Stephanie Smith would have a seizure.

On October 6, 2007, Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation announced that it was recalling approximately 845,000 pounds of frozen ground beef patties for possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recall was initiated after three people in Minnesota tested positive for E. coli and a joint investigation by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture identified the Cargill hamburger patties as the source of the illnesses.

The Cargill products were sold at retail establishments and to restaurants and other institutions. Sam’s Club announced that it was pulling the potentially E. coli-contaminated ground beef patties produced by Cargill from its store shelves nationwide on October 5th.

Full post as published by e.Coli Blog on January 02, 2008 (boomark / email).