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

The Erwin Record
12/28/04
By Rebekah Harris -- Staff Writer

Following an outbreak earlier this year in which hundreds of Unicoi County students were inoculated against hepatitis A, the Tennessee Department of Health will offer a free second round of vaccinations Jan. 11-13 to local students.

Dr. Lawrence Moffatt of the Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Department is urging the 1,600 to 1,700 students vaccinated after an outbreak here in June to get their second and final shots.

While Moffatt said the second shots won't guarantee protection, they will heavily boost the odds against the students contracting hepatitis A.

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By Chris Osher
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
December 16, 2004

Even though he had been laid off from his job at US Airways, Bennie Martino had reason to celebrate.

Last fall, he and his wife learned they would be allowed to adopt their foster child. They decided to splurge at Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant, but the meal ultimately compounded their woes.

Martino, 40, was stricken with hepatitis A in an outbreak that infected 660 people, including four who died. The illness left him with nearly $146,000 in medical bills, he says.

Martino, of Monaca, was one of two people who sued the restaurant chain Wednesday in federal court, claiming they became ill with hepatitis A after dining at the Chi-Chi's at Beaver Valley Mall.

Angelo Palitti, 44, of Aliquippa, was the other. He contends the hepatitis A he suffered complicated his recovery from an earlier kidney transplant.

The lawsuits, both filed by Seattle lawyer William Marler, allege that the method Chi-Chi's used to store green onions, which health officials have identified as the likely culprits, essentially created "hepatitis soup."

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KDKA.com
December 16, 2004

Lawsuits against Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant, the center of a major hepatitis A outbreak last year, continue to trickle in.

Two more federal lawsuits were filed this week against the chain for making what one attorney calls "hepatitis soup."

Bennie Martino, of Monaca, and Angelo Palitti, of Aliquippa, say they too were sickened by green onions when they ate at the chain restaurant in a Beaver County mall last fall.

The suits were filed by Seattle attorney William Marler, who is representing numerous other victims in the case.

Nearly 700 people were sickened in the outbreak and four died from complications.

Marler says improper storage of the green onions by Chi-Chi's led to the outbreak.

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Press Release Source: National Partnership for Immunization

History Brings Experts Together to Raise Disease Awareness
Monday December 13, 2004

Former Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Speaks Out to Protect Children and Communities From the Potentially Deadly Liver Disease

ALEXANDRIA, VA--(MARKET WIRE)--Dec 13, 2004 -- As a result of hepatitis A outbreaks across the country, former United States Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, and the National Partnership for Immunization are joining forces to educate the public about the disease and prevention through vaccination.

This initiative comes on the one-year anniversary of one of the largest hepatitis A outbreaks in U.S. history, which caused devastating health effects and severely affected families and communities near Pittsburgh, Pa. Hepatitis A is a serious and potentially deadly liver disease that may infect nearly 100,000 Americans each year. The disease, which can be prevented through vaccination, is spread via the fecal-oral route through close personal contact or the ingestion of water or food contaminated with the hepatitis A virus. Children often serve as a reservoir for hepatitis A, and unknowingly pass it on to adults.

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December 10, 2004
11 News Staff Reports

MONTGOMERY COUNTY -- The New Caney School district will vaccinate students for hepatitis A after the second outbreak in as many months.

Eighteen students there were recently diagnosed with hepatitis A and several had to be hospitalized.

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By Nancy Flake, Courier Staff
December 10, 2004

Conroe, TX - For the second time in less than two months, an outbreak of hepatitis A has been confirmed in New Caney schools, this time affecting 18 students.

None of the students with the disease, which affects the liver, has been hospitalized, according to Pat Buzbee, director of Montgomery County Health Services, who has been coordinating efforts to find the cause of the outbreak. Seventeen of the students with the virus attend White Oak Middle School, which opened in August. The 18th student attends Crippen Elementary School.
In the October outbreak, six students at White Oak Middle School and one student at Bens Branch Elementary School were confirmed with the virus and two were hospitalized.

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Cases rise despite vaccination effort
By Kay Lazar, Globe Correspondent
December 9, 2004

Months after hepatitis A scares among food handlers at five Massachusetts restaurants grabbed headlines, public health workers across the state are still battling outbreaks of the infectious disease, often among the homeless, substance abusers, and inmates.

At the state's urging, community health nurses have spent weeks doggedly trooping through shelters, methadone clinics, and rehab centers offering vaccinations and prevention education.

But new infections keep cropping up. And one of the state's top disease trackers is baffled.

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The Daily Ardmoreite
December 7, 2004

Hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent the transmission of disease, especially during influenza season. Oklahoma public health officials are using National Hand Washing Awareness Week, Dec. 5-11, as an opportunity to remind people about this simple and inexpensive disease prevention technique.

"Hand washing helps prevent catching and spreading colds, hepatitis A, meningitis, and infectious diarrhea, as well as many other diseases," said Oklahoma State Department of Health Epidemiologist, Becky Coffman, RN, MPH. "The effective way to wash your hands is to wet your hands and apply liquid or clean bar soap. Rub your hands vigorously together for at least 10 to 15 seconds to dislodge and remove germs, and then rinse your hands well and dry them."

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Saturday, December 04, 2004
By NATALIA E. ARBUL⁄
narbulu@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD - Local school and health officials responded promptly to a reported case of hepatitis A in a White Street Elementary School cafeteria worker, according to state officials.

"We feel everything was handled in a timely fashion," said Nicole St. Peter, director of public affairs at the state Department of Public Health.

The worker went to an undisclosed hospital Monday seeking treatment for symptoms related to a pre-existing condition when she tested positive for the virus, according to Helen Caulton-Harris, director of the city's Health and Human Services Department.

The blood test confirming the case of hepatitis A came back Thursday, she said.

The hospital immediately informed local health officials and the state Department of Public Health, Caulton-Harris said.

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December 03, 2004
By NATALIA E. ARBUL⁄
narbulu@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD - A White Street Elementary School cafeteria worker was hospitalized Monday due to hepatitis A, and state and local officials said they have taken the steps necessary to keep the disease contained.

No other related cases have been reported, said Helen Caulton-Harris, director of the city's Health and Human Services Department.

State health officials did not believe students or teachers at the school were at risk, she said.

Thomas Mazza, assistant finance manager for the Springfield School Department who oversees the lunch program, confirmed last night that the worker was admitted to an undisclosed hospital and that other employees who had come into contact with her were being treated with inoculations as a precaution.

Hepatitis A is a viral liver disease that spreads through unsanitary conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

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