A woman who fell “deathly ill” after eating a common sausage linked to a national listeria outbreak is suing its manufacturer.
Sue Fleming, 88, who lives with her husband Patrick, 76, in High Ridge, Missouri, ate a Boar’s Head liver pate late last month after buying it at her local supermarket.
But in the days that followed, she says, she developed nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps, before suffering tremors and aches throughout her body.
According to the lawsuit, she was rushed to the hospital, where tests confirmed a listeria infection. She spent nine days in intensive care and 11 in rehabilitation, but claims she still suffers from neurological symptoms and has not yet regained her full strength.
Sue Fleming, 88, and her husband Patrick, 76, are suing deli maker Boar’s Head and the store where they bought the meat after Fleming became “deadly ill” from listeria.
She had eaten Boar’s Head liver pate the day before she became ill. This meat is now included in the recall of products contaminated with listeria in several states.
The couple is now suing Boar’s Head for more than $25,000 to cover medical and legal costs, and damages to their “enjoyment of life” and their marital relationship.
At least two people have died and 34 have been sickened in a multi-state listeria outbreak linked to Boar’s Head sausages; the CDC says it’s likely that others have been infected.
The grocery mainstay announced the recall of more than 100 tons (or 207,000 pounds) of its meats across 13 states (including Illinois, New York and Missouri) late last week.
It’s unclear how the meat became contaminated, but bacteria can linger on surfaces and reach cutting tools and countertops if regular deep cleaning isn’t done, potentially contaminating the meat and causing an outbreak.
The lawsuit, filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, states: ‘Patrick Fleming has lost the love, services, consortium, comfort, instruction, guidance, advice and support of his spouse.
‘Sue Fleming continues to suffer the effects of her infection, including a range of neurological symptoms, fatigue and general weakness.’
The married couple had regularly purchased Boar’s Head sausages for years and say they had not had any problems in the past, the lawsuit says.
They are suing Boar’s Head on nine counts, including negligence and failure to comply with an implied injunction, and have demanded a jury trial.
The lawsuit also names Schnucks Market as a defendant, the store where the meats were purchased.
The couple say the illness, from which Fleming has yet to recover, has taken away their joy in life and damaged their marriage. Pictured above, they are holding a book the couple wrote about healing the trauma of past abuse.
His attorney, Ryan Osterholm of Minnesota-based OFT Food Safety and Injury Lawyers, said: ‘Unfortunately, we have seen this before with sausages.
‘Listeria enters the facility and if deep cleaning is not done frequently enough, it stays. That’s how listeria proliferates.
“From there, it passes into food and causes serious illnesses in people. They then have to be hospitalized and sometimes (too often) they die.”
Listeria, which kills about one in five people it infects, is particularly dangerous for the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying health problems.
These people have weaker immune systems, which means they may be less able to fight off an infection.
Symptoms may begin a few days or 10 weeks after infection, and initially start as fever, chills, stomach cramps, and diarrhea.
But as the infection progresses, patients may also experience seizures, loss of balance and confusion.
The bacteria can be fatal if it spreads to the blood and causes sepsis (where organs begin to stop working) or infects the nerves and lining of the brain causing encephalitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain).
Infections can be treated with antibiotics, which are given intravenously and can kill bacteria.