According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC for short, estimates that each year, in the United States, 48 million people become sick due to food poisoning, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 people die. If you have eaten in a restaurant and developed food poisoning symptoms as a result, you do have a right to sue the establishment. However, before you do so, there are some things you should know.
What is Food Poisoning?
Before you start calling a personal injury lawyer, do you know what food poisoning is? Food poisoning, also known as foodborne illness, is a type of illness that is caused by contaminated food. In the majority of cases, the food has been contaminated with bacteria or viruses, but can also be contaminated with parasites and toxins as well. Food can get contaminated at the farm, at the food processing plant, during delivery, or at the restaurant.
Common Causes of Food Poisoning
There are four common causes of food poisoning: cross contamination, food temperatures that aren't regulated, employees with poor hygiene, and employees who work while sick.
Common Food Poisoning Injuries
For the most part, food poisoning causes symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. These symptoms will usually appear within a few hours after the eating the contaminated food, but may also take a few days to appear. You will usually see the symptoms disappear on their own their own in about a week. However, food poisoning can also cause severe symptoms as well, including frequent bouts of vomiting, bloody stool, severe diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, blurry vision, muscle weakness, severe dehydration, and excessively high temperature. Severe symptoms can result in hospitalization or an extended recovery period at home.
If you have experienced food poisoning as a result of contaminated food you were served at a restaurant, a personal injury lawyer may be able to help you. To learn more about food poisoning, contact a law firm like King Law Firm.
Share27 July 2016
When I sued a product manufacturer after a disfiguring accident, I never expected to actually go to court. I assumed that the case would eventually be settled, like most personal injury cases are. To my surprise, they wouldn't budge, and we ended up having to go all the way to court. I was pretty nervous about testifying, but I had a great attorney that prepared me well, and everything went smoothly. In the end, the jury saw things my way. I realized that I probably wasn't the only person to ever experience an unexpected day in court, and that's how I got the idea to start this blog. If you're looking for tips to help you prepare or wondering what to expect when you go to court for a lawsuit, this blog contains important information for you.
