Health Law

Utah Quiznos hepatitis A update

By Drew Falkenstein

A suspected hepatitis A outbreak at a Salt Lake City, Utah Quizno's location has prompted a warning by the Salt Lake Valley Health Department to customers exposed at the restaurant to get an injection of immune globulin (IG) or hepatitis A vaccine as soon as possible.  If a person exposed to the virus gets an IG vaccine in a certain window of time before the onset of symptoms, the person may be protected against the development of severe symptoms. 

We recently represented many people in suits against an Illinois Mcdonald's restaurant in a hepatitis A outbreak.  The plaintiffs were of two classes.  First, we represented people who developed severe illness caused by their hepatitis A infection; and second, we represented numerous people in a class action (settled for $500,000) against the restaurant for exposure to the virus at the restaurant, and the resulting need to receive hepatitis A vaccination shots.  The following is a description of the class action settlement:

According to the Quad-City Times, anyone who received immunizations as a result of possible exposure to hepatitis A at a McDonald's restaurant in Milan, Ill., can make a claim in a $500,000 settlement that is pending approval in Rock Island County Circuit Court. The settlement, titled Patterson v. JKLM, Inc. d/b/a McDonald's, is pending in the 14th Judicial Circuit Court of Rock Island County. A hearing will be 2:30 p.m. Sept. 16. At the hearing, the court will consider whether to grant final approval of the proposed settlement.

The plaintiff, Quad-City area resident Cody Patterson, acting on behalf of himself and others, filed the suit July 21, 2009. It names the McDonald's at 400 W. 1st St. and the restaurant's owner, Kevin Murphy, as defendants. Compensation includes the cost of obtaining the shots and the value of lost time required to get the shots. The class does not include claims for those who became ill with the virus or employees of JKLM Inc. The suit claims to represent all of those who may have contracted or have been exposed to the illness while eating at the McDonald's in June and July. Murphy said in a statement that he didn't learn until July 13 about hepatitis A affecting the restaurant, his employees and customers. The suit claims Patterson ate food or drank a beverage from the restaurant eight or more times in June and July. It does not detail the extent of his illness.

In July 2009, the Rock Island County Health Department said that people who had dined at the restaurant between June 1 and July 15, 2009, may have been exposed to hepatitis A. The health department recommended that anyone who had eaten at the restaurant between those dates obtain immunoglobulin injections, or IG shots, to prevent hepatitis A.

Patterson is seeking compensation from JKLM Inc. for everyone who allegedly was exposed to the virus and who subsequently obtained the injections at the health department clinic or a private health care provider between July 15 and Aug. 31, 2009. The health department provided free inoculations to people who ate at the restaurant from July 6-10 and July 13-14, 2009. Two employees there were confirmed as having the disease.

If the settlement is approved, the judgment will release JKLM Inc. from all claims for damages caused to all persons allegedly exposed to the hepatitis A virus while dining at the restaurant and who subsequently obtained IG shots.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on August 20, 2010 (boomark / email).