SEATTLE, WA 2005-12-21 Two families whose children got sick after drinking raw milk from a southwest Washington farm have hired a team of Seattle lawyers known for suing in E-coli cases.
A lawsuit has NOT been filed. But the Marler-Clark law firm is investigating.
The firm represented victims in the high profile Jack-in-the-Box and Odwalla E-coli cases of the 1990s.
Long-term health care costs for the infected children are the main concern, says lead attorney Drew Falkenstein.
"You're not dealing here with what some people think of as a stomach virus or something like that. This is something that in bad cases as we're seeing in this particular outbreak can result in life long kidney problems. In those certain situations some people will want to do something about it."
Fifteen children and three adults from Washington and Oregon got sick earlier this month after drinking raw milk from the Dee Creek Farm near Woodland, Washington.
Two children are still in the hospital but are improving.
Washington State requires that raw milk dairies be licensed.
Dee Creek Farm owners were ordered to stop distributing milk in August. They declined. The farm is now applying for a license.