Should You Consider a Food Poisoning Claim?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 6 Americans get sick due to foodborne diseases every year. In fact, those 48 million Americans aren’t the only victims of an increasingly insecure food supply. Another 128,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne illness on an annual basis. Food poisoning is a significant problem in the U.S., and is more likely to affect you than you might like to think.
So, what should you do if you suspect that a restaurant or purchased product gave you food poisoning? That depends on a number of factors, including:
How serious were your symptoms?
Were your symptoms relatively mild (like fever and malaise) or did you suffer from more severe symptoms like: bloody diarrhea, vomiting and intense abdominal pain? Whether or not it’s worth the time and cost of pursuing a food poisoning lawsuit often comes down to how much and for how long you or your loved one suffered. If you or someone you love was hospitalized or permanently harmed due to a foodborne disease, it might be in your best interests to seek the counsel of a qualified personal injury attorney before valuable evidence is lost.
Can you prove it?
In order to pursue a personal injury claim due to foodborne illness on your behalf, you may need to prove which specific pathogen caused the illness. This could mean having stool samples tested or samples of leftover food tested.
Was your food poisoning due to negligence?
If the restaurant or supplier who is responsible for your illness was grossly negligent, you may be able to reclaim monies not only for medical expenses and lost income, but for punitive damages as well. Although standards often seem to be slipping, restaurants and food suppliers are still held to mandatory food safety standards. If your foodborne illness is due to someone else’s negligence, you may have a case.
Food Poisoning Counsel
If you suspect that you have food poisoning right now, call a doctor. If you and your doctor suspect that you had food poisoning, there are a few steps that you can take, including:
- Visiting the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Food Poisoning page, which provides general information about common foodborne disease pathogens, including Botulism, Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and E.coli.
- Contacting a qualified personal injury attorney. If you or someone you love suffered substantial harm due to food poisoning, a good lawyer can offer guidance on your legal options and rights.
Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. are experienced Milwaukee Food Poisoning Lawyers eager to help those injured through no fault of their own protect their rights and recover the damages to which they’re entitled.