Author: Tony Coveny, Ph.D
Tony Coveny, Ph.D
Tony Coveny, has been practicing infectious disease litigation exclusively for more than a decade, settling cases against major agro-industrial companies, international suppliers, and domestic distributors and manufacturers. Tony Coveny, alongside Ron Simon, has tried cases against restaurants, distributors, national manufacturers, and foreign corporations to recover damages against their clients. From the main office in Houston, which he manages, he speaks to potential and current clients on a daily basis.
The E. coli outbreak traced back to Chipotle Mexican restaurant is prompting the company to implement new policies and practices. This outbreak, in which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified 52 victims in a multi-state outbreak of E. coli in California, Ohio, Oregon, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington states, is only one of the five outbreaks to have assailed the patrons of Chipotle in the last five months. It is, perhaps, the most serious, however, given the danger of E. coli poisoning and the fact that victims have been identified in at least 6…
Chipotle’s food poisoning woes continue unabated as the company faces another major outbreak of food poisoning, this time among the students of Boston College. Local health officials confirmed yesterday that a massive outbreak of norovirus among Boston College students was linked to the Chipotle restaurant where the students ate over the preceding weekend. So far, at least 120 Boston College students have reportedly become sick, up 50% from the count just two days ago of 80. This outbreak comes on the heels of a major outbreak of norovirus at Chipotle’s Simi Valley location in California, where the Food Safety lawyers…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have traced the origins of an outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B infections to organic, raw, non-peanut nut butter products produced the Bend Oregon company JEM Raw Chocolate, LLC. According to the CDC, 11 victims have been identified with Salmonella Paratyphi B variant L(+) tartrate (+) in nine states, including California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Oregon. Only Oregon has more than one confirmed case at this time, with victims presenting…
On August 13, 2015, following an exhaustive trace-back investigation by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), Public Health of Seattle & King County (PHSKC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), Kapowsin Meats voluntarily recalled about 116,262 lbs. of whole hog due to contamination with Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-. Kapowsin meats had been identified as the likely source of the Salmonella outbreak affecting many dozens of individuals and centered in Washington State. As part of the investigation, health inspectors (including investigators from the USDA-FSIS) inspected Kapowsin Meats…
Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc., a company based in Tracy, CA, is recalling numerous products that may contain E. coli 0157:H7. The products are being recalled following Montana Department of Health (MDH) testing that revealed that a sample of Taylor Farms Pacific’s “Celery and Onion Diced Blend” tested positive for the potentially deadly bacteria. The Celery and Onion Diced Blend had been used in a Costco Rotisserie Chicken Salad, which was among the common foods in an outbreak that has been linked to at least 19 serious illnesses in seven states. The victims were identified in Montana (6), Utah (5), Colorado…
Health officials now suspect a product delivered to Chipotle restaurants as the source of the E. coli outbreak that first hit Washington and Oregon, where Chipotle closed 43 restaurants for a period of time to thoroughly clean and disinfect those establishments. Now, cases have been identified in New York, Minnesota, Ohio and California, leading investigators to too cast a wider net in their investigation into the source, which they speculate is a common product, such as a vegetable, provided to Chipotle restaurants. The outbreak, which many thought would be contained in the North West, now takes on national significance as…
Outbreak Claims Fourth Victim, CDC Says The nationwide Salmonella Poona outbreak linked to cucumbers continues to grow as the fourth victim has reportedly died from complications of Salmonellosis. In addition to the four deaths, there are now “officially” 838 victims from at least 38 states in this outbreak. And that only counts the number of victims the CDC have verified – thousands of others are presumed to have been sickened by the Salmonella tainted imported Mexican cucumbers, sold in the U.S. The CDC also confirms at least 165 hospitalizations, though again this number is believed to be a very low estimate.…
According to Eric Aakko, Public Information Officer for the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment (WCDPHE) in Colorado, three cases of typhoid fever (Salmonella typhi ) have been identified in patrons of the Qdoba Mexican restaurant in Firestone, Colorado, since August. Aakko stated that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has traced the three illnesses to an infected food handler at Qdoba. Two of the victims of the Qdoba Salmonella Typhi Outbreak were hospitalized. There have been no new cases since October of this year. The infected employee is no longer working at Qdoba, is…
The Washington State Department of Health (WSDH) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) have finally released the serotype of E. coli that has sickened at least 39 people who ate at local Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants from north of Seattle to the Portland, OR region. WSDH and OHA have announced the pathogen to be Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 (STEC O26 or E. coli 026), and noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are also involved in the investigation. The identified victims, and health officials expect there are…
Chipotle has now closed 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington States. This follows reports of at least 21 illnesses: 3 E. coli victims in Clackamas and Washington counties, Oregon, and 19 E. coli victims from Clark, Cowlitz, King, and Skagit counties, Washington. According to Jonathan Modie, spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority, at least a 6 have been hospitalized in an outbreak that covers the area near Portland, Oregon to about 50 miles north of King County, where Seattle is located. According to Modie, the victims seem to have come from 6 stores. But Chipotle (which has 1700 outlets) is…