How can I open a case to see if there is a relationship of my illness with a food recall?
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How can I open a case to see if there is a relationship of my illness with a food recall?
About 2 weeks ago I began feeling an horrible stomach pain that started like a month ago with a slight stomach discomfort while eating. The horrible pain was accompanied with fever and diarrhea. I began feeling very weak as my body not even tolerated the water, ginger ale, or herbal teas. I thought it was a virus and decided to stay in bed. After 5 days of agony, my family didn’t listen to my denial of visiting a hospital and took me to ER. There the doctor said it was no virus and because of my symptoms and stool description, I had a bacteria in my stomach caused by parasites, probably from contaminated food. He said this could have been incubating from months ago. I had to stay at the ER with antibiotics and IV medications; after that it was horrible the way parasites came out of my body. So I began to hit my memory to see what I ate and then I remembered a recall notice Sam’s Club sent me regarding gluten free sausages which were potentially contaminated. I was the only one in the household who consumed them because of my gluten free diet and the date of purchase agree with the term the doctor said the bacteria could be incubating. I’ve suffered a lot because of this stomach bacteria. Is there a way that I can open a case to see if there is a relationship of my illness with the recall?
Asked on June 4, 2012 under Personal Injury
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
When you complete your medical treatment and are released by the doctor or are declared by the doctor to be permanent and stationary, which means having reached a point in your medical treatment where no further improvement is anticipated, obtain your medical bills, medical reports and documentation of any wage loss. Your personal injury claim filed with the insurance carrier for Sam's Club should include these items. If the product was not the store brand, you would file your personal injury claim with the insurer for Sam's Club and the insurance carrier for the company that produced the sausage. Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. If the case is settled with the insurance carriers for both Sam's Club and the manufacturer of the brand of sausage, NO lawsuit is filed. If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the insurance carriers, reject the settlement offers and file your lawsuit for negligence and strict liability against Sam's Club and the manufacturer of the product. Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable manufacturer would have exercised under the same or similar conditions to produce a product that is not defective). Strict liability imposes liability whether or not due care was exercised. Negligence and strict liability are separate causes of action (claims) in your lawsuit. The store is liable even if it could not have known that the sausage was defective/contaminated.
If your case is settled with the insurance carriers for both the store and manufacturer, NO lawsuit is filed. If the case is not settled with either party's insurance carrier, name both the store and manufacturer as defendants in your lawsuit. If you settle with one party, but not both, only name the party with whom you have not settled as a defendant in your lawsuit. If the case is NOT settled, you will need to file your lawsuit for negligence and strict liability prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
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