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People in Seattle have been contaminated by peanut butter. |
As of February 15, "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted nearly 300 people in 39 states, including four in Washington, who have been sickened since August. Not all cases have been linked to the implicated peanut butter," a Seattle Times article stated.
So far, Marler is representing James Winston Daniels II and Linda Lee Oswald. Daniels and Oswald are from different cities and got sick from different brands of peanut butter, but both are suing the same food manufacturer based in Nebraska.
"From an epidemiological point of view, this has been one of the oddest outbreaks I've seen in 14 years of doing these cases," Marler said in a Seattle Times article.
One of the strangest things about the story is that victims of contamination are popping up all over the nation, not in one contained area. In addition, it is taking a while for people to come forward. However, Marler explains away this last point by saying that it's normal for people to keep peanut butter in their homes for a long period of time. He said that because of this, it makes sense for the cases to be spread out over time.
Marler said he sees the lawsuit growing to have more than 3,000 people involved. In addition, he has talked with families of four different people who claim their family members died from the contaminated peanut butter. He is in the process of researching this by testing thousands of jars of peanut butter.
"Part of what we do is make sure that claims that are brought forward are legitimate and meritorious, because that helps the system move forward to correct itself," he said in the article.
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