Iowa Family Sues Maker Of Enfamil In Federal Court: Seeks Damages, Requests Jury Trial

Posted on February 18, 2009 by E. Sakazakii Lawyer

 Daniel Korte was one of the twin boys born prematurely on April 23, 2007 at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa.  Because of the pre-mature birth, Daniel remained in Mercy’s NICU unit where he was fed Enfamil Powdered Human Milk Fortifier for the first time on May 5, 2007.

This week, Patrick and Michelle L. Korte, Daniel’s parents, sued Mead Johnson Nutritionals, the spin-off of Bristol Myers Squibb Co. that makes the Enfamil Powdered Human Milk Fortifier.

The family alleges that within hours of consuming the Enfamil product, Daniel was in tachycardia and blood cultures taken revealed the presence of the Enterobacter Sakazakii bacteria.

“The E. Sakazakii bacteria that infected Daniel Korte came from the powdered human milk fortifier he received out of the Enfamil container,” says the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Iowa.

The two year old continues to suffer from severe brain and other physical damages caused by the E. Sakazakii, which the Korte family blames the manufacturing defect in the Enfamil product, which they says was produced in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition of contamination.

Evansville, IN-based Mead Johnson just raised $724 million in its initial public offering.  Symbol for its now publicly traded stock is MJN.  Its IPO was priced at $24 a share.

The Korte family is represented by attorneys William R. King of the Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts law firm in Des Moines, and Andrew Weisbecker and Bruce Clark of Marler Clark in Seattle.  In seeking damages for the Korte family, the lawyers have asked for a jury trial.

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E Sakazakii Discussion From A Settlement Demand Letter

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Bill Marler

Editor's Note:  A Settlement Demand Letter (SDL) is a communication that is sent to defense attorneys on behalf of the plaintiff.  In food-borne illness litigation, an SDL usually requires some academic discussion like the one that follows on Enterobacter Sakazakii.  Our hat-tip goes to Andy Weisbecker, one of the talented attorneys at Marler Clark, for sharing his work with us.

THE ENTEROBACTER SAKAZAKII BACTERIA

Characteristics, Epidemiology, and Virulence

Enterobacter sakazakii is a gram-negative , non-spore-forming bacterium belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family.

Enterobacteriaceae have increasingly been identified as pathogens in the past 30 years. E. sakazakii is a relatively newly identified pathogenic bacteria and used to be known as a "yellow pigmented Enterobacter cloacae" until 1980, when it was introduced as a new species based on differences in DNA-DNA hybridization, biochemical reactions, and antibiotic susceptibility.

E. sakazakii is a rare, but life-threatening cause of neonatal meningitis, sepsis, and necrotizing enterocolitis. In general, E. sakazaii kills 40-80 percent of infected newborns diagnosed with this type of severe infection. E. sakazakii meningitis may lead to cerebral abscess or infarction with cyst formation and severe neurologic impairment.

E. sakazakii can cause a variety of infections, though central nervous system infection has been most commonly described. For infants, infection typically manifests through signs of sepsis in the first week of life: irritability or lethargy, temperature instability, and feeding intolerance. Meningitis often produces overwhelming infection that rapidly moves through cerebral hemorrhage, infarct, necrosis, liquefaction, and eventually, cyst formation.

With a single reported exception, E. sakazakii meningitis has been reported exclusively among infants. In a study of E. sakazakii cases over a 47 year period, investigators found that the median age at infection onset was two days and 94 percent of cases were less than 28 days old. Premature infants are thought to be at greater risk for E. sakazakii infections than term babies, older children and adults.

Enterobacter species are opportunistic and generally infect those with underlying illness or are immunosuppressed. E. sakazakii invasive infections occur more frequently in infants than in older children. The neonate’s immature immune system may increase the risk of acquiring an E. sakazakii infection. Among adults E. sakazakii infection appears uncommon.

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