Put me out of business, please.

In the wake of the now infamous ConAgra ground beef recall that sickened scores of Americans coast to coast, I called upon anyone who would listen in my op-ed piece for the Denver Post to put me out of business – please. I said:

“For this trial lawyer, E. coli has been a far too successful practice – and a heart-breaking one. I am tired of visiting with horribly sick kids who did not have to be sick in the first place. I am outraged with a food industry that allows E. coli and other poisons to reach consumers, and a President, Congress and federal regulatory system that does nothing about it.”

I offered a few common sense solutions:

• Hire more inspectors and give them real authority to sample meat and stop its distribution as soon as a pathogen is detected.

Consider mandatory recall authority.

Require the meat industry to document where specific lots of food are sold.

Merge the two federal agencies responsible for food safety, the USDA and FDA.

Put pressure on large purchasers of meat to require the meat industry to produce high quality, pathogen lessened, meat.