A New Jersey infant was among at least 14 people, in nine states and Canada, who became ill after coming into contact with dog food recently. The 2-month-old child reportedly became very ill in April and spent several days hospitalized after coming into contact with a certain brand of dog food. The boy was diagnosed with salmonella.
The illnesses resulted in a recall of the pet food, manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods, and this week a federal defective products lawsuit was filed by the boy’s parents in Trenton over the salmonella issue.
It remains unclear how the child came into contact with the pet food, but it appears it may have been through his parents hands. Neither the family dogs, nor the boy’s parents, contracted salmonella.
The seven-count civil lawsuit targets the dog food manufacturer as well as Costco, which sold the product. In addition to product liability and consumer fraud, the suit alleges negligence, breach of warranty and fraudulent misrepresentation.
A news report about the lawsuit did not detail the family’s damage requests. When someone suffers injuries as a result of a defective or dangerous product, it is often possible to hold the negligent product manufacturer accountable with a civil personal injury lawsuit. Compensation can be awarded for medical expenses and pain and suffering, among other things.
Luckily, this infant survived the bout with salmonella, but the complaint says that unfortunately he is still at risk of kidney and liver damage and must be monitored. He reportedly suffered severe gastrointestinal injuries.
The pet food recall related to this salmonella strain now encompasses a variety of brands of both cat and dog food made by this manufacturer and sold in several states.
Source: New Jersey Law Journal, “Infant Allegedly Got Salmonella From Contact With Food,” Mary Pat Gallagher, May 29, 2012
