15-year-old Colorado girl hospitalized over McDonald's E. coli outbreak, new lawsuit claims
A teenager from Grand Junction was life-flighted across the state to Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora earlier this month due to an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's, according to a newly filed lawsuit against the fast food giant.
That lawsuit has 33 named plaintiffs and was filed in Chicago, where the McDonald's Corporation is based, but of the 75 people around the country identified by health officials as having been sickened from this E. coli outbreak, about one-third reside in Colorado. One Mesa County man has died as a result of E. coli, according to local health officials in the western Colorado community.
Kamberlyn Bowler, 15, of Grand Junction, ate a McDonald's Quarter Pounder at least twice in late September and early October, according to the Houston-based Ron Simon & Associates law firm. Bowler developed gastrointestinal illness, including bleeding and intense abdomen and kidney pain, the law firm said.
"The longer a young person is on dialysis, the more difficult their medical future will likely be. We are working with Kamberlyn's family to make sure she receives the very best medical treatment and advice," attorney Ron Simon said in a statement Monday. "This sort of illness is as preventable as it is tragic. Our team will continue to seek justice for those who have suffered from this outbreak. We can and will find out how this happened so that we can prevent it from happening again."
McDonald's declined to comment on the lawsuit itself, but the company's U.S. division president Joe Erlinger said in a statement, "I also want to address customers who ate at McDonald's and are feeling any number of things: ill, scared, or uncertain. I know that our relationship is built on trust. You trust us to serve you safe food every time. On behalf of the McDonald's system, I want you to hear from me: we are sorry. For those customers affected, you have my commitment that, led by our values: we will make this right."
In another lawsuit filed by Simon's firm against the company, Eric Stelly, of Greeley, Colorado, says he developed E. coli from eating at a Greeley McDonalds.
"Health investigators confirmed that Plaintiff was part of the McDonald's E. coli outbreak," that lawsuit says.
McDonald's announced Sunday that Quarter Pounders will again be on its menu at hundreds of its restaurants after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to the popular burgers that killed one person and sickened at least 75 others across 13 states.
"While the specific source of contamination is still under investigation, early information from the Food and Drug Administration indicates the onions on McDonald's Quarter Pounders may be a source of this outbreak," Mesa County Public Health wrote in a news release. "Fresh-slivered onions are primarily used on Quarter Pounder hamburgers and not other menu items."
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says the 26 cases in the state have been reported in nine different counties:
- Arapahoe County
- Chaffee County
- El Paso County
- Gunnison County
- Larimer County
- Mesa County
- Routt County
- Teller County
- Weld County
