Foodborne Illness: The Proof is in the Poo

August 7th, 2009. By janem

If you have contracted a foodborne illness, the last thing on your mind is getting a stool sample—you just want to stop the nausea and diarrhea and all the other nasty symptoms that are associated with food poisoning. And chances are, your doctor may not ask for one; he is focusing on getting you better. But if you are contemplating a lawsuit, insist on getting a stool sample, before taking any antibiotics.

If you want to pursue a foodborne illness lawsuit you must prove that (1) the food product you ate was contaminated and that (2) the contamination was the cause of your illness.

Determining the specific food culprit sometimes isn’t so easy, particularly if there is a time delay between eating the food that made you sick and developing the food poisoning symptoms. It takes some detective work if you are the only one sick. On the other hand,  if a government health agency has linked a particular food you ate to an outbreak of food poisoning, you may have a strong claim.

The best way to prove the contamination caused food poisoning is to have a stool sample scientifically tested for disease-causing microbes that were found in the contaminated food source.  Your next step, now that you have a sound claim, is to call a lawyer.

Tags: foodborne illness

This was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 2:10 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues, Personal Injury . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.