TMCnet News
Suit Filed in Bernalillo Botulism Death(Albuquerque Journal (NM) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 4--Christopher Caffrey lived alone in a Bernalillo mobile home with his two dogs before his painful, lingering death last year -- the victim, according to a lawsuit filed by his estate in state District Court, of botulism poisoning from a can of Castleberry's Austex chile that became part of a nationwide recall. The state Health Department in 2007 confirmed the July 26 botulism illness and ultimate death six weeks later of an unidentified 52-year-old Sandoval County man, saying only that he had eaten some of the recalled goods in the past and had shopped at a store that sold several recalled goods. A lawsuit filed by Albuquerque attorney Randi McGinn alleges product liability and negligence by Bumble Bee Foods, Castleberry Foods, which manufactured the recalled foods, and T&T Supermart, which sold the items, and seeks damages on behalf of his estate. Bumble Bee corporate offices did not return a call seeking comment. Joe Torres, manager of T&T, said he could not comment on the lawsuit. But he added, "Allegations are just allegations. They were never able to show that he bought anything here. Nobody knows (where he bought the cans)." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a recall of Castleberry's hot dog chili products under various brand names between April and May 2007; by the end of July the product recall included more than 90 potentially contaminated items. The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that Castleberry's "failure to protect the public through proper food production practices resulted in millions of cans of poisoned food being distributed across the country," the lawsuit says. Caffrey, a man with a closed head injury from a car accident as a teenager, did almost all of his shopping at the nearby T&T. Caffrey consumed the Austex hot dog chili, and possibly the beef stew, during the week of July 18 and showed botulism symptoms soon after, according to the lawsuit. Two neighbors saw him fall straight forward like a board -- a sign, though they didn't know it then, that the botulism toxin was spreading through his bloodstream and interfering with his ability to walk. By noon July 26, when he met with his sister, he had double vision, slurred speech and stumbling. His sister took him to Kaseman Presbyterian Hospital, where he was put on a ventilator that remained in place until his death in September. He was diagnosed with Type A botulism and received an antitoxin that had to be brought from out of state. Caffrey became blind as a result of the botulism and lost the ability to move any part of his body except a big toe, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit alleges that a health investigator found recalled Austex products manufactured by Castleberry at the T&T market on July 30, after the recall had been issued, and informed the store of the botulism poisoning of "one of its regular customers" and asked the store to remove the items from shelves. According to the lawsuit, an FDA inspector at Castleberry's Augusta, Ga., plant found hot dog links "dragging on the floor under the rack" in February 2007, and improperly covered raw materials for food products and problems with the temperature and heating process two months later. "Castleberry's/Bumble Bee never corrected the problem with its thermometers or the inconsistent reporting so it could continue production and sales ... resulting in underprocessed products that were likely to have or develop botulism," the lawsuit says. To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |