Hepatitis A Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Hepatitis A Blog

By Kay Lazar
Wednesday, June 30, 2004

State health officials are closely monitoring a jump in the number of hepatitis A cases after two infected restaurant workers in the past two weeks forced mass inoculation clinics for patrons, including one yesterday in downtown Boston that drew more than 800.

"Normally we have 10 to 20 reported cases a month, but we are running about 50 a month," said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, director of communicable disease control for the state's Department of Public Health.

Boston Public Health spokeswoman Kristin O'Connor said they gave more than 850 immune globin injections by early evening, and are planning another free clinic today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Anthony's Shrine on Arch Street for any patrons who ate at Quiznos Sub shop on Summer Street between June 17 and 19.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2004
The Associated Press

The bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 case of Chi-Chi's Inc. authorized the restaurant chain to pay more than $2 million in settlements to customers who suffered from an outbreak of hepatitis A at a restaurant in the Beaver Valley Mall.

The order, signed last week by Judge Charles G. Case of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., and made available yesterday, authorizes the Tex-Mex eatery to pay 60 claims totaling $2.18 million.

The settlements stem from the largest outbreak of hepatitis A in U.S. history, the focal point of which was a Chi-Chi's restaurant in Beaver County.

About 600 people contracted the disease last year from contaminated green onions shipped from Mexico. The outbreak was blamed for four deaths.

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By Greg Gatlin
Tuesday, June 29, 2004

It didn't take lawyers long to swoop in on Friendly's after a case of hepatitis A at the restaurant chain's Arlington restaurant.

Lawyers who are expert in food-borne illness cases filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against Friendly's in Middlesex Superior Court on behalf of plaintiff Frederick C. Foster and potentially thousands of others who needed to get immune-globulin shots after a worker at the Friendly's came down with hepatitis A.

The suit claims those who were potentially exposed have suffered damages including lost wages while waiting in line for shots, medical-related expenses and emotional distress.

There have been no reports of additional hepatitis A cases related to the Friendly's case beyond the one worker diagnosed.

William Marler, a Seattle lawyer representing Foster, isn't shy about taking on food companies and restaurant chains in cases of food-borne illness. His firm, Marler Clark, represented families in the Jack-in-the-Box restaurant E. coli litigation. He reportedly won an $11 million settlement with Natick-based BJ's Wholesale Club and a meat supplier for an 8-year-old girl who nearly died after eating E. coli-tainted beef.

Marler's taken on numerous chains over hepatitis A exposure cases, including D'Angelo's Sandwich Shop, which had an outbreak in Swansea in 2001. More than 1,300 people reportedly got $200 settlements for potential exposure.

"I've taken food companies for well over $100 million in the last 10 years,'' he said. "We do what we do for a lot of reasons - to make money and also to try to change people's behavior. We've been successful at getting the meat industry to do the right thing in E. coli cases.''

The Foster suit claims Wilbraham-based Friendly's owed it to patrons to serve food that was fit for human consumption and to properly supervise, train and monitor employees involved with food preparation.

A Friendly's representative could not be reached for comment.

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By Associated Press

BOSTON - Two clinics to treat hepatitis A will be held this week for patrons of a Boston sub shop where a food handler tested positive for the highly contagious virus.

The worker at Quiznos Sub Shop in the city's Downtown Crossing shopping area tested positive over the weekend, city officials said in a statement.

The Boston Public Health Commission recommended that anyone who ate food from the shop June 17 through June 19 receive an injection before July 1. It is estimated that less than 600 people ate food from the sub shop on those dates.

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By Kay Lazar
Tuesday, June 22, 2004

What a difference a weekend makes.

The hepatitis A inoculation clinic held by Arlington health officials yesterday went a lot smoother than Friday's when thousands waited hours in the drizzle to be treated.

"After Friday, we sat down with everyone involved in the planning and decided we lacked some signage and we also made it easier access for the elderly, the handicapped and people with children," said Arlington Deputy Fire Chief Wayne Springer.

"We also placed chairs along the line and the Red Cross provided free bottled water,'' he said. ``And there wasn't any rain, so that helped."

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Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Two Mexican growers implicated in last year's deadly hepatitis A outbreak in western Pennsylvania cannot resume shipping green onions to the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Inspectors who visited Tecno Agro Internacional and Agro Industrias Vigor between June 1 and June 4 did not find the virus in the water supply, but found continued problems with water quality as well as food safety and hygiene practices of workers, an FDA spokesman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The FDA said such practices "could potentially lead to another (intestinal) pathogen outbreak."

The United States banned shipments of green onions from these and two other companies during its investigation of the hepatitis A outbreak at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi's Restaurant. The outbreak affected 660 people and was blamed for four deaths.

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6/18/2004 9:37 PM
By: Capital News 9 web staff

After a Hepatitis A outbreak in Massachusetts, New York state officials aren't taking any chances.

The New York State Health Department has issued a Hepatitis A advisory for the entire state. A Friendly's restaurant in Arlington, Massachusetts, is at the center of the outbreak, and health officials are concerned traveling New Yorkers may have stopped there.

It is very close to the heavily traveled Massachusetts Turnpike. Officials are asking anyone who ate at the restaurant between June 4 and 15 to get immediate medical attention.

Hepatitis A is a very contagious disease that attacks the liver, but after treatment most people fully recover.

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Thousands Show Up For Hepatitis Clinic

WCVB TheBostonChannel.com

Thousands of people attended a clinic in Arlington Friday amid a Hepatitis A scare after an employee at a Friendly's restaurant was diagnosed with the illness.

NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that about 3,800 people ate at the restaurant during the two-week period that the infected employee was most contagious.

"I was a little anxious. We are a little nervous going in, but it will be OK," resident Rhonda Zucco said.

"I just want to get in and get out. We are moving today. We have a lot to do," resident Brian Daniel said.

"We look happy. We are really not. This whole thing is just pathetic. There are 500 people in front and 500 people in back, and they should know better than to run an establishment like that," resident Toni Fentin said.

A worker at the restaurant, who was not using protective gloves, was diagnosed with the illness this week. Anyone who ate at the restaurant between June 4 and 15 was urged to get a shot against the virus.

"The effectiveness of the serum is only good for 14 days. So, if you ate at Friendly's before June 4, and you had something that was served to you that was cold, this is not going to help you," Arlington Fire Department Chief Wayne Springer said.

The restaurant remained closed for unrelated health code violations.

"The first presenting symptom is usually nausea and vomiting, fever, yellowing of the eyes and brown urine. So if any of those symptoms start to present, and you were at that Friendly's restaurant prior to June 4, you should contact your primary care physician," Springer said.

"I went through the window. I had no idea it was that dirty. We went to the window, we ordered ice cream and we left we had no idea," resident Dawn Morella said.

Public health officials originally scheduled two sessions for the clinic, but decided not to take a midday break because of the large turnout. The clinic will stay open until 5 p.m.

There will be another clinic held on Monday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Friendly's is paying the tab for the shots.

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By Boston.com Staff
June 16, 2004

A case of hepatitis A has occurred in a food worker at the Friendly's Restaurant located at 105 Broadway in Arlington, the town's Board of Health and state health officials announced today.

In a notice posted on the Board's web site health officials warned that people who ate cold or uncooked foods at the restaurant between June 4 through June 15 may be at risk of developing hepatitis A.

Officials urged that anyone who ate cold or uncooked foods at the restaurant during that period should contact their health care provider and be administered Immune Globulin as soon as possible.

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June 17, 2004
WCVB TheBostonChannel.com

Health officials in Arlington are offering free vaccinations to anyone who may have eaten at a local restaurant where an employee was discovered to have Hepatitis A.

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that an estimated 3,800 customers ate at the Friendly's restaurant at 105 Broadway between June 4 and June 15 since an employee there was diagnosed with the highly contagious virus that affects the liver.

The town health department is not doing screenings, but it is offering free immunoglobulin shots to customers. In the meantime, the restaurant has been shut down while an investigation is performed, citing unsanitary food conditions.

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Elizabethton Star
June 16, 2004
Staff Reports

Mass vaccination clinics are being held in Unicoi County for children age 2 through middle school (eighth grade) against Hepatitis A. Vaccinations are being given to help contain a recent outbreak of Hepatitis A that the Department of Health is currently investigating. A total of 11 confirmed cases have been reported since June 8.

"Periodically, outbreaks of Hepatitis A occur throughout communities; it's not unusual," said Beth Rader, spokeswoman for Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Office "Most cases come through from a food handler."

The vaccination clinics will be held at the Unicoi County Middle School beginning Wednesday, June 16, through Friday, June 18, for students attending Unicoi County Middle School and Temple Hill Elementary School.

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June 10, 2004
GABE SEMENZA
Victoria Advocate

The Texas Department of Health is reminding parents to have their children immunized, a health-conscience measure that needs to be taken on time and quite frequently in Victoria, local doctors said.

Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Texas commissioner of health, said children should receive 80 percent of their childhood vaccinations by age 2, which experts say is an important step in protecting the health of little ones.

"When children are not vaccinated, they are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases," Sanchez said in a written statement. "Vaccines are health protecting. They are safe and they are effective. But we must continue to remind people that controlling vaccine-preventable diseases is an on-going process."

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