I asked our AI friends – What are the pros and cons of replacing FDA Commissioner Makary with me – here is the response? This is a very timely question — Makary resigned as FDA Commissioner today, May 12, 2026, amid reports of internal tensions and policy clashes, with the vaping dispute reportedly being a […]
The Story of Stephanie Smith Captivated a Nation Stephanie Smith, the twenty-two year old Minnesota dance instructor left paralyzed by a burger tainted with E. coli filed suit today against Cargill, who produced the contaminated meat. Ms. Smith, whose “The Burger that Shattered Her Life” profile in the New York Times was emailed all over […]
This video was produced by the New York Times less than two months ago:
We are filing suit on behalf of Stephanie Smith, the young dancer profiled in the New York Times, against food giant Cargill in Federal Court. Here is a video of her story: Stephanie Smith: E. coli Survivor from Marlerclark on Vimeo.
In early October the New York Times profiled Stephanie Smith, the 22-year-old former dance who ate a hamburger in 2007, suffered severe Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome and subsequent brain and kidney damage. She was hospitalized for nine months. She is in ongoing rehabilitation. She now is wheelchair bound, unable to care for herself, unable to have […]
The Illinois Health Department has released its investigation into this summer’s hepatitis A outbreak. It concluded the source of most of cases was food eaten at the Milan McDonald’s. A state investigation has concluded most of the cases originated at the Milan McDonald’s and most of the cases *would have been prevented* if only that […]
Washington State Department of Agriculture News Release: Dec. 2, 2009 Three recent E. coli infections in Washington have been linked to drinking raw, unpasteurized milk. As a result, the Washington state departments of Health and Agriculture are reminding consumers of the potential health hazards of these products. The patients all report drinking raw milk produced […]
Elizabeth Weise from USA Today, who has covered most of the E. coli outbreaks over the last dozen years, did a great job in her article, “Family’s nightmare began with secondary infection.” Faith suffered with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome linked to a 1998 taco meal served at Finley Elementary School in rural Eastern Washington. Although Faith […]
My hero, Barb Kowalcyk. Please listen to her story and her fight for Kevin’s Law:
We filed two more lawsuits yesterday against the Ixtapa Family Mexican Restaurant in Lake Stevens, Washington. Laurie Bunney and Amanda Vest ate at Ixtapa on October 9, 2008 and became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in the following days. Both women incurred medical expenses and wage loss as a result of their E. coli […]
According to the ABA Journal – These are the 100 best Web sites by lawyers, for lawyers, as chosen by the editors of the ABA Journal. The ABA’s readers clued them in to a few law blogs they had never seen before, and you’ll find them among the 40 blawgs that are new to the […]
Consumer Reports published – How safe is that chicken? Among the findings: • Campylobacter was in 62 percent of the chickens, salmonella was in 14 percent, and both bacteria were in 9 percent. Only 34 percent of the birds were clear of both pathogens. That’s double the percentage of clean birds we found in our […]
The New York Times reporter, Edward Wong, reported a few hours ago that a hearing began Friday (our Thursday) in the first civil suit to be heard in a Chinese court involving parents suing a dairy company and a supermarket over selling tainted milk. In 2008 at least six children died and 300,000 were sickened […]
A friend sent me the below YouTube videos of Larry King’s visit with me and the mothers, and one grandmother, of children killed from eating E. coli O157:H7-tainted hamburger that ran last month. This first video – the first ten minutes of the show – it then got a bit off-track as the hour went […]
I took the time today to read the Seattle Times article by Maureen O’Hagan, “Seattle lawyer turns into healthy food crusader,” and I was struck by a discussion I had with the reporter: Marler, … says he and his firm, Marler Clark, have pried $500 million in settlements out of companies that have sickened customers. […]