Outbreak News
Marler Clark files E. coli lawsuit against Oregon meat supplier
PRESS RELEASESeptember 10 2007
SEATTLE, WA —A lawsuit was filed today against Interstate Meats, Inc., the Clackamas, Oregon meat producer whose ground beef products were identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak among Washington, Oregon, and Idaho residents in July and August. The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington by Marler Clark on behalf of Brian Leamon, a 21-year-old King County resident who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized for three days after eating Interstate Meats ground beef.
The lawsuit is the first filed by Marler Clark in connection with the Interstate Meats E. coli outbreak, although the firm represents several other victims of the outbreak, and more lawsuits could follow. At least nine people – two from Oregon, six from Washington, and one from Idaho – became ill during the outbreak.
“Since 2002, the number of meat recalls and E. coli outbreaks connected to ground beef had been steadily declining, and our focus shifted from contamination in meat processing facilities to spinach and lettuce fields—until now,” said William Marler, Mr. Leamon’s attorney, noting that over 6.5 million pounds of meat have been recalled this year for potential E. coli contamination.
Read more about the 2007 E. coli lawsuit announcement on the Marler Clark website.
More on this outbreak: Interstate Meat E. coli Outbreak
