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

Thursday, July 15, 2004
By Christopher Snowbeck, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The state Department of Health is asking Chi-Chi's Inc. to pay more than $146,000 to cover costs the state incurred providing preventive shots during last fall's hepatitis A outbreak at the chain's Beaver Valley Mall restaurant.

In a court filing last week, the state said it provided shots of immune globulin to about 10,000 people potentially infected with hepatitis A as a result of the outbreak, the worst such event at a U.S. restaurant in history. The antibody treatment provides protection to people exposed to the virus in the past 14 days.

People who ate at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi's between October 22 and November 2 were eligible, and a state clinic at the Beaver County Community College drew huge crowds for several days in November.

The filing came in U.S. Bankruptcy Court because Chi-Chi's filed for bankruptcy court protection several weeks prior to the outbreak's discovery.

The Health Department says its actions likely limited the number of people sickened with hepatitis A and, as a result, limited potential liability for Chi-Chi's. The state is not seeking to recover the costs of notifying the public about the outbreak, nor is it seeking to recover costs for staffing clinics, according to the filing.

A spokeswoman for Chi-Chi's did not immediately return a call for comment.

Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney representing the state, said at least one other restaurant at the center of an outbreak have covered the costs of immune globulin shots.

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(Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at csnowbeck@post-gazette.com or 412 263-2625.)

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By Thomas Lake
The Salem News
Staff

DANVERS - Growing fears of foodborne hepatitis A have led Italian restaurant chain VinnyT's of Boston to give kitchen workers a vaccine generally reserved for those traveling to Third World countries.

A visiting nurse vaccinated 26 kitchen workers at VinnyT's in the Liberty Tree Mall on Monday, restaurant manager John Tynan said. The chain is one of the first in the state to give its workers the vaccine, though others are considering the measure.

New hepatitis A infections nearly quintupled to 285 in the first five months of 2004, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Officials can't fully explain the sharp rise.

"Just in the Boston area, (hepatitis A) is almost an epidemic right now," Tynan said. "Going the extra mile for safety is worth it."

The vaccine consists of two shots costing $70 to $100 each. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, the vaccination is not recommended for people unless they use street drugs, have male homosexual intercourse, or travel to high-risk countries such as those in Africa, Central or South America, Asia (except Japan), the Caribbean, Mexico and southern or eastern Europe.

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Massport head, councilor exposed

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | July 13, 2004

Councilor Paul Scapicchio just wanted to give the head honcho at the Massachusetts Port Authority a firsthand look at what a taxi driver's life is like. But when Scapicchio, who recently earned his hackney license, gave Massport chief executive Craig P. Coy a lift to the airport in his cab two weeks ago, both got more than they bargained for.

The two stopped in for a Reuben sandwich and a slice of pizza at the taxi pool restaurant, a tiny lunch counter at the airport where drivers eat between fares. Now, both officials will be lining up with as many as 3,000 taxi drivers to get shots to stave off hepatitis A.

"I wanted to show him life for Boston taxi drivers can be tough," Scapicchio said. "I never realized just how tough it can be."

Emergency Medical Services trucks were stationed outside the Taxi Pool Caf yesterday, manned by city health workers distributing information about the disease.

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By Marie Szaniszlo
Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Boston cab drivers lashed out yesterday at the Taxi Pool Cafe at Logan International Airport for failing to notify them that one of its employees had hepatitis A.

Drivers who stopped by the restaurant over the weekend found "closed for renovations" signs on the doors, but no mention that a worker there had contracted the disease.

"We believe we were deliberately mislead by the proprietor, and I think that's disgraceful," said David Sandberg, an Independent Taxi Association driver.

The cafe remained closed yesterday and the owner, Kailua Royal Hawaiian Inc., could not be reached for comment.

Several cabbies have also complained about conditions in the restaurant's bathrooms, including a lack of soap. Hepatitis A is usually spread when people don't wash their hands properly after using the toilet, and then touch their mouths or prepare food for someone else.

The commission announced the case Sunday, and is recommending that up to 3,000 cabbies who ate at the restaurant from June 30 to July 4 receive an injection of immune globulin between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. tomorrow, or between 3 and 10 p.m. Thursday in the airport's taxi pool lot.

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By Marie Szaniszlo
Monday, July 12, 2004

Boston public health officials yesterday announced a second confirmed case of hepatitis A in a city food worker in 10 days - an employee at a Logan International Airport restaurant where as many as 3,000 cabbies may have eaten over a five-day period.

The Boston Public Health Commission recommends anyone who ate at the Taxi Pool Cafe from June 30 to July 4 receive an injection of immune globulin at a clinic being held Wednesday and Thursday at an East Boston location yet to be announced.

The general public is not at risk, officials stressed, because the cafe is open only to cab drivers and hepatitis A is not transmittable through the air. Only people who ate food prepared at the restaurant could contract the disease.

Symptoms include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea and jaundice.

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Article Last Updated: Monday, July 12, 2004 - 11:32:04 AM EST
By JULIE MEHEGAN, Sun Statehouse Bureau

BOSTON There are simple ways to prevent transmission of the liver disease hepatitis A, say public health officials, who are urging people to practice good hygiene to avoid infection.

The state Department of Public Health has been working overtime to inform Massachusetts residents about hepatitis A after several cases in which restaurant employees unknowingly infected with the virus reported to work, placing patrons at risk.

In Arlington and Boston in recent weeks, hundreds of diners have waited hours in long lines for a shot of immune globulin, meant to prevent transmission of hepatitis A after contact with an infected person.

The incidents, at separate restaurants, have prompted curiosity and concern about an illness that can result in serious liver damage.

"To me, the most important thing that people should take away from all this is you should wash your hands after you go to the bathroom," said Bela Matyas, M.D., medical director of the epidemiology program at the state Department of Public Health.

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Town Sets Up Clinic For Inoculations

The Boston Channel

BOSTON -- For the second time in less than a month, a restaurant worker in Arlington, Mass., has been diagnosed with hepatitis A.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of people lined up for inoculations after a worker at the Arlington Friendly's tested positive for the disease.

Now, a food server at Not Your Average Joes on Massachusetts Avenue has come down with the illness.

Customers who ate at Joes on June 30 are being urged to receive inoculations at a clinic scheduled for Thursday between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Symmes Hospital.

Arlington Health officials are expected to hold a news conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday with more information.

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By Kay Lazar
The Boston Herald
Friday, July 2, 2004

Three high-profile cases of restaurant workers infected with hepatitis A in the past three weeks is prompting anxious Massachusetts restaurant owners to seek vaccinations for their employees to guard against further illnesses.

"It's on everyone's mind," Peter Christie, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said yesterday.

Christie said he has been negotiating with vaccine makers this week in hopes of finding affordable vaccines and health care workers to administer them.

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Officials Urging Patrons To Get Vaccination

POSTED: 7:21 am EDT July 1, 2004
UPDATED: 10:59 am EDT July 1, 2004

STONEHAM, Mass. -- Stoneham health officials are investigating a confirmed case of hepatitis A.

SYMPTOMS
Jaundice
Fatigue
Abdominal pain
Loss of appetite
Nausea
Diarrhea
Fever
RESOURCES
Overview
CDC Info.

LOCAL RESOURCES
Mass. Hepatitis Hot Line
888-443-4372
Mass. Department Of Public Health

It's the third such incident in Massachusetts in recent weeks.

In the latest case, an employee of J.J. Grimsby's Restaurant on the Stoneham-Melrose, Mass., border tested positive for the disease.

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ARLINGTON
By Christine McConville, Globe Staff | July 1, 2004

A spokewoman for the company that owns Friendly's restaurants said this week the firm is willing to reimburse Arlington for the cost of giving immune globulin injections to some 2,800 people last month after a waitress at the company's restaurant at 105 Broadway contracted hepatitis A.

Maura Tobias, the spokeswoman, said the Friendly Ice Cream Corp. would be ''happy to reimburse Arlington for the costs associated with the inoculations."

Arlington health director Christine Connolly said earlier this week she was still calculating the costs for the three-day inoculation effort at the former Symmes Hospital. But, she said, the expenses would include hiring nurses to administer the shots, renting buses to shuttle people from a satellite parking lot to the inoculation site, buying syringes, and paying for police details and town employee overtime. The immune globulin was provided by the state free of charge, she said.

Connolly's statements came as the restaurant opened Monday nearly two weeks after the town shut it down because of the hepatitis case and problems health agents found in the restaurant's food-handling practices. The health director said Monday that officials had not heard of any Friendly's customers falling ill with hepatitis.

The restaurant reopened three days after a Boston man who said he had eaten in the restaurant in June filed a class action lawsuit against Friendly's in Middlesex Superior Court, charging that the restaurant had potentially exposed people to hepatitis A. In the suit, Frederick C. Foster alleges that, because of the hepatitis case, he and many other customers had to wait in line for inoculations, losing wages. Foster has hired a Seattle law firm known for its work in developing class action suits on food contamination cases.

Tobias said the company is disappointed that the lawsuit was filed, ''but right now our focus is on welcoming back the Arlington guests and letting them know that their loyalty and patronage means a lot."

In an earlier statement, Friendly's said it was cooperating fully with health officials in Arlington and that ''all available information indicates that this incident is isolated to one employee in one restaurant."

Connolly said local health officials learned from Mount Auburn Hospital June 14 that the Friendly's waitress had been tested for hepatitis, a highly contagious disease that can cause an enlarged liver. Health agents visited the restaurant the following day and closed it down immediately after they found health code violations that included improper hand washing by workers, poor food preparation practices, unwashed salads, and failure to refrigerate eggs and cheese.

The hepatitis case was confirmed June 16, and Friendly's employees were inoculated the next day. Health officials also urged anyone who had eaten at the restaurant from June 4 to June 15 to get the immune globulin inoculation, which can prevent the illness or reduce the severity of symptoms if given within two weeks of exposure.

Connolly said this week the restaurant has had employees complete training sessions on safe ways to handle food and how to help people who are choking. The restaurant also had to correct the health code violations before being allowed to reopen, she said.

The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, is being handled by Seattle lawyer William Marler and the local firm of Sabra & Aspden of Somerset. According to the lawsuit and information on Marler's website, the Seattle firm has been involved in numerous food contamination lawsuits. The Somerset firm also has experience representing people in these class action lawsuits.

The suit says that Foster ate at the Broadway Friendly's on June 11 and got the immune globulin injection. In the suit Foster said he has lost wages and suffered harm, humiliation, and emotional distress because of the episode.

Though local health officials knew of no cases of hepatitis among Friendly's customers, Connolly advised people who may have been exposed and were unable to get a shot within two weeks of June 15 to watch for symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, yellowing of the eyes, and brown urine and to consult their health care providers if they become sick.

Connolly said that while most people who are exposed to the virus ''get over it" after suffering mild flu-like symptoms, for others, exposure can be very dangerous.

The biggest question around town these days is how to prevent the spread of the virus.

"Hand washing and personal hygiene is very important," she said.

Christine McConville's email is cmcconville@globe.com.

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